The trains have stopped running, the big wheel no longer spins and the elephant is packing its trunk. Californian authorities have effectively shut down Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch, saying the singer has not paid wages or insurance since the end of last year.
State labour commission officials visited the 1 000ha ranch to deliver an order barring any work at Neverland. Earlier in the week, another state agency sent Jackson a demand for more than $300 000 owing in wages to 47 employees who were last paid in December. In total, Jackson was fined $475 000, including a $100 000 fine for failing to pay wages.
This week, a member of the Neverland staff who had been injured at work was found not to have the necessary health insurance, prompting an investigation.
Jackson was not at the ranch when the order was served. Since being acquitted on child abuse charges last year, the 47-year-old has spent most of his time in Bahrain, with trips to London and Hamburg. There were reports on Friday that he was staying with his family in Los Angeles and was due to meet his staff, but his spokesperson could not be contacted for comment.
If Jackson fails to pay the back wages by March 14, Californian authorities will take legal action, according to a letter sent to his accountants. If he fails to abide by the enforced work stoppage, he could face criminal misdemeanour charges.
Local animal-welfare agencies have been notified and are standing by to remove the animals at the ranch’s zoo, including an elephant, a giraffe, a zebra, snakes, orang-utan, alpacas, tigers and a crocodile. The US Department of Agriculture inspected the zoo in December after a complaint from the pressure group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, but concluded that the animals were being adequately cared for.
This week’s order permits Jackson and his immediate family to live at the ranch, and gives him the option of contracting an outside company to run it.
The fate of Neverland was a source of speculation at Jackson’s trial last year. The sprawling ranch, complete with amusement park, 24-hour staff and security, ornate grounds and zoo, costs $5-million a year to maintain, a drain on the singer’s already stretched finances.
Workers at Neverland were last paid on December 19, a day before a payment was due on a $270-million loan. That loan is secured by Jackson’s 50% ownership of the Sony/ ATV music catalogue, which includes the rights to 200 Beatles songs. Jackson’s own song catalogue was used as collateral for an $18-million loan on Neverland. Jackson’s financial advisers are scrambling to refinance his affairs and he is said not to have enough to pay the latest fines.
The order to stop work at Neverland is just the latest blow to Jackson’s attempts to continue with his life since his acquittal. Earlier this year, he parted ways with Thomas Mesereau, the lawyer who defended him. Although neither side has commented publicly, it is understood that they fell out over money.
Meanwhile, Jackson faces multiple legal problems. He is still involved in a custody dispute with Debbie Rowe, the mother of two of his children, and he is in the middle of a long-running court case with a former business associate, Marc Shaffel, who claims that Jackson owes him millions of dollars. There is also a dispute with a promoter over a cancelled millennium evening concert and an allegation of child molestation from the mid-1980s. — Guardian Unlimited Â