MICHAEL JACKSON - JACKSON FINANCIAL BATTLE TRIAL SET FOR JUNE

JACKSON FINANCIAL BATTLE TRIAL SET FOR JUNE

A June (07) trial date has been set for MICHAEL JACKSON's multi-million pound financial battle with the cousin of music mogul DAMON DASH. Darien Dash claims Jackson owes his company Prescient Acquisition Group of Hackensack $48 million (GBP24 million) after they refinanced a $272 million (GBP136 million) bank loan and arranged $537 million (GBP268 million) so Jackson could buy out Sony's half interest in The Beatles' catalogue of songs in 2004. Jackson was fighting child molestation charges at the time - but was later acquitted. Dash's attorney, Steven Altman tells the New York Daily News, "Many business people were unwilling to risk public association with a man who was then widely viewed as the world's most notorious paedophile." It's still unclear if the troubled singer will appear in Judge Kevin Castel's courtroom in New York on 18 June, but the star's attorney Londell MCMillan is pleading his innocence, saying, "Michael is not going to be hijacked by the threat of fraudulent claims."