Michael pictured with Raymone Bain
No lawsuit filed against Branca, Mottola, Malnik, Ratner or Green could be found. No complaints naming such other than the Carol Davis entry posted on another blog. However I did find this:
Lawsuit Complaint filed against Michael’s Accountants, Bernstein, Fox, Whitman, Goldman and Sloan. This lawsuit filed in December of 2006 by Michael through Venable, LLP, for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and failure to provide accounting.
This reports that Michael dropped the lawsuit (possible settlement) but the link no longer works so I copied here from where it was posted on a message board:
“Troubled pop star Michael Jackson has now dropped his lawsuit against account firm Bernstein, Fox, Whitman, Goldman & Sloan which he claimed made unauthorized deals. It is not known if Jackson who alleged negligence and breach of trust agreed to a settlement deal. The King of Pop sued the company in December 2006; he said that they were late in paying his taxes as well as entering into contracts without the singer’s permission.
The account firm tried to counter sue Jackson, however this action was dismissed. Bernstein, Fox, Whitman, Goldman & Sloan claimed that Michael Jackson owed them $1 million in unpaid bills. Michael has managed to stay out of the headlines since he was acquitted of the child sex abuse charges in 2005.”
Source – BBC News
Take a look at the list of lawyers owed money, according to Ayscough and he mentions other law suits filed by lawyers against Michael. Some of the names are very interesting. There are a number of lawsuits filed by attorneys against Michael at this time. It is unclear to me that this is the conspiracy that Raymone Bain put out the press release about, as it does not address Michael’s catalog nor his battle with Sony. The complaint also does not mention or petition for involuntary bankruptcy.
Ayscough represented MJ against Marc Schaffel. Schaffel was suing Michael at the same time Michael was facing trial.
In this complaint filed by Brian Ayscough on July 25, 2006, he listed quite a few creditors, in which most are lawyers. How did Mr. Ayscough get this information from the other creditors and why did they feel compelled to share this information? They were, according to the complaint, asked to stay on by Susan Yu and Tom Mesereau, who were also accused of non payment and bad faith.
Here is a list of the cases Ayscough said they either assisted in or provided exclusive services for:
People vs Jackson S.B. Superior Court case#1133603 – duties to obtain orders to seal civil cases from press during court proceedings, sealing records and staying discovery while proceedings in process.
Court of appeals case #B182655 – challenge by news media on sealing records.
Schaffel vs Jackson et. al. S.C. case # SC083501 – Defending Jackson et. al.
Kamand vs. Jackson S.C. case # BC324733 – Defending Jackson
Avram vs Jackson, JAMS case of 50 133 T 00565 04 –
Alfredo Bowman and Dr. Sebi, LLC vs. Jackson S.C. case # BC 322867 –
Hamid Moslehi vs. MJJ Productions D.C. case # CV 04-10264 RSW – IFILM Inc.
Kyman vs. Jackson L.A. S.C. #LC071670 –
Here is a list of the previous lawyers and business representatives listed on the complaint:
Zia Modabber, $400,000
Brian Oxman, $1,250,000
Michael Sydown, over $1,000,000
Michael Abelson – in reference to being asked by him to approve services performed by Oxman. This should have been Abelson’s responsibility to pay A&M; for that.
Bob Sanger, $1,200,000
Michael Abelson again, $100,000
Precient Acquisition Group, $48,000,000 NY Dist. Court case #05CV 6298 Judge Castle
Watchel and Masyr, filed motion to be relived in Precient case for non payment of services
Lavely and Singer, $100,000
David LeGrand, Owned money (no amount mentioned)
Other Creditors listed in complaint:
Fortress, $325,000,000 –
Randy Jackson, $1, 650,000
RJ’s assistant Tyuna Zilkie, $50,000
Debbie Rowe sued Michael for L.A. SC case #BD 310276 for $900,000 a year for five years plus legal fees.
Staff of Neverland and state of California for back pay, which was paid but still mentioned in complaint.
CPA Allan I. Whitman of Fox, Bernstein, Whitman, Goldman and Sloan owed for business management services. (mentioned above, Michael dropped case against them).
Now this firm claims that Mesereau and Yu were paid by Michael in September 23 of 2006 but had told Ayscough that they had not been paid yet and asked Ayscough to stay on saying they would be paid later, but were never paid. What sense does this make?
Why isn’t their complaint then against Mesereau and Yu? Why were they holding Michael accountable for the payments of ASSISTANTS of creditors?
And why and how would Randy Jackson be involved with this complaint? Did Randy just volunteer this information to someone who was trying to put the screws to his brother?
How would this law firm get the creditors and amounts of all these different lawyers and business managers if they had not been on a campaign?
Michael’s counter complaint
My friend has not been able to find actual documents for this, but she did send me this article:
10/18/06
Michael Jackson Sues Former Attorneys
Michael Jacksonis suing Los Angeles law firm Ayscough & Marar, accusing attorneys of trying to force him into bankruptcy. In papers filed on August 29 but unseen until now, Jackson accuses his former attorneys of conspiring with other lawyers, who represented him in the past, to put him into involuntary bankruptcy.
According to Fox News, Jackson also claims that Brent Ayscough – the attorney who unsuccessfully represented him in a lawsuit brought by former business partner Marc Schaffel – threatened to expose confidential information about him to the press, violated rules of professional conduct and committed both negligence and malpractice. Ayscough sued Jackson in July for $216,000 he claims he is owed in unpaid fees.
Jackson is also currently embroiled in a $48 million lawsuit brought by Darien Dash, the cousin of hip-hop mogul Damon Dash. Dash claims he has Jackson’s signature on a document promising to pay him a nine percent fee for securing financing for a $275 million loan in 2004 held by Fortress Investments.
This link shows document of proceeding and mentions Michael’s counter-suit, filed August 29, 2006 (day after his 48th birthday) and the trial set for June 26, 2007. There is a discussion by legal professionals on the motions presented during this hearing.
This is written closer to lay terms. Both of these were hearings in reference to Michael not showing up for depositions. According to this link, Michael walked out on one deposition and failed to show on the date set to finish it.
As a result, Michael was ordered to pay the $216,000 to Ayscough and Marar plus interest.
However, this is not the same list of lawyers and business associates that Carol Davis mentioned in a now defunct justice system.net a list of the people mentioned in the conspiracy. Those people were:
– John Branca
– Trudy Green
– Howard Kaufman
– Charles Koppelman
– Al Manik
– Tommy Mottola
– Brett Ratner
The only reference I could find has been deleted.
“To all the fans around the world, for your information – please know that Michael Jackson’s publishing ATV and MIJAC catalogue is not for sale. However, there is a conspiracy to try and take these publishing companies from him. Suspected are the following: Al Malnick, Tommy Mottola, John Branca, Charles Koppleman, Brett Ratner, Howard Kofeman, Trudy Green. (search U.S. Justice Department)
Pass this information to the fans around the world that love and care for Michael.
Sincerely, a watchful eye.”