Randy Jackson claims, in the slander sheets that his brother, Michael Jackson, owed him money for helping Michael out, including Michael running up $700,000 on his American Express card, while the trial was going on.
Here's a little more info on the business deal that Randy Jackson involved Michael Jackson in when refinancing Michael's debt.
Michael Jackson lawyers quit N.Y. case
Updated 8/2/2006 4:14 PM ET
By David B. Caruso, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK — For the second time in a year, a law firm representing Michael Jackson has quit, saying it hasn't been paid and can't get the pop star on the phone.
A federal judge in Manhattan on Monday gave attorneys at Wachtel & Masyr permission to withdraw from a case in which a financial company claims the singer owes it $48 million.
In a letter to the judge, attorney William Wachtel described his trouble communicating with Jackson through a series of representatives. Over months, Wachtel said, he dealt with the singer through one intermediary after another, only to be informed repeatedly that they were quitting or had been fired.
The last straw came, he said, when Jackson dropped out of contact with the firm entirely after his only face-to-face meeting with his lawyers in June, at the luxurious Hotel de Crillon in Paris.
At the session, Jackson apologetically promised to be in better touch, Wachtel said — and that was the last they heard of him.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Jackson has failed to respond to every e-mail and telephone message left for him over the past four weeks," Wachtel said.
A Los Angeles lawyer for Jackson, John Branca, didn't immediately return a telephone message Tuesday.
The legal team is the second to quit the case. Attorneys from the firm of Latham & Watkins quit in November after reporting that their bills weren't being paid and that it was impossible to communicate with Jackson.
U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel said Monday that he would allow Jackson to reorganize his legal team but that he wanted the parties back in court Sept. 5. The judge said Jackson must hire a new lawyer by then or appear in court himself.
Next up for Jackson could be New York attorney L. Londell McMillan, whose clients have included Prince and Stevie Wonder. Jackson's representatives announced in late June that McMillan had been hired to coordinate the singer's legal affairs.
The case involves the Prescient Acquisition Group, which claims it helped Jackson refinance $272.5 million in debt owed to the Bank of America and arrange $537.5 million in financing related to his ownership interest in the Beatles song library.
It is one of a number of recent suits involving Jackson and former business associates.
Last month, a California jury awarded a former Jackson adviser $900,000 related to work he did on videos intended to rehabilitate the pop star's image. The jury awarded Jackson $200,000 in a cross-complaint.
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/people/2006-08-01-jackson-lawyers_x.htm
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Prescient Acquisition Group, Inc. sued MJ Publsihing Trust, Michael J. Jackson, and MJ-ATV Publishing Trust on a breach of contract theory claiming that Jackson and his companies owed it for helping him refinance $272.5 million worth of bank loans owed to Bank of America through Fortress Investment Group. The loan was secured with a lien on the Beatles catalog owned by Jackson and he risked lossing the valuable copyrights associated with the songs if he defaulted on the loan. Plaintiff claimed that it arranged the financing and was entitled to compensation for its efforts.
Outcome: Settled for an undisclosed sum. (reportedly $5 million)
http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=1:05-cv-06298-PKC&s=NY&d=33340
(Reuters) - Michael Jackson on Monday settled a breach-of-contract suit brought by a financial firm that claimed to have brokered the deal that allowed him to avoid default on more than $270 million in loans last year.
New Jersey-based Prescient Acquisitions Group claimed Jackson owed the firm $48 million for its role in securing the financing he needed to pay off the debt, which was secured by his prized stake in the Beatles song catalog.
Terms of Prescient's agreement with Jackson and his MJ Publishing Trust were not disclosed. The lawsuit, filed in July 2005, was settled as the case was about to go to trial in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
In its suit, Prescient said it had arranged to secure the financing Jackson needed to pay off $272.5 million in debt originally provided by Bank of America and later sold to the New York-based hedge fund Fortress Investment Group.
The refinancing deal ultimately was reached in April 2006 with help from Sony Corp., which jointly owns rights to more than 200 Beatles songs -- and thousands of songs by other artists -- with Jackson through Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
Sources with knowledge of the refinancing package said at the time that Jackson had negotiated a lower interest rate on his debt and agreed to provide Sony with an option to buy about half of his 50 percent stake in the music catalog.
Jackson, whose music career has long been overshadowed by accusations of sex abuse and by media attention on his eccentric lifestyle, was acquitted in June 2005 of all charges in a child molestation trial. But according to testimony during the sensational case, years of extravagant spending had left Jackson mired in debt.
A default last year by Jackson would have allowed Fortress to seize his interest in the Beatles catalog, valued at some $500 million.
A spokesman for Jackson told Reuters the settlement with Prescient means that the archive of music publishing rights would remain "safe and sound."
The settlement with Prescient -- whose owner, Darien Dash, is a cousin of hip-hop mogul Damon Dash -- removes one of numerous civil court actions that have entangled the self-styled king of pop in recent years.
Remaining litigation includes a lawsuit filed by Jackson's former lawyer, Brent Ayscough, who claims Jackson owes him about $200,000 in unpaid legal fees, and a court battle with the singer's former accountants.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/06/19/us-michaeljackson-idUSWEN882720070619
