By Roger Friedman

Michael Jackson is back in the USA. In fact, he’s back in New York City.

Jackson sneaked back here on Wednesday according to my sources. The purpose
was to give a deposition in the $48 million lawsuit filed against him by
Prescient Partners, aka Darien Dash, cousin of hip hop entrepreneur Damon
Dash.

The Prescient case is a typical Jackson dilemma: the pop singer or someone
representing him-possibly his brother Randy-signed an agreement that if
Prescient could find him financing to buy out his Bank of America loans,
Jackson would pay them a 9 percent fee.

Prescient claims it found over $500 million in financing from Fortress
Investments. Now Dash wants his money.

Jackson has other pressing financial problems at the moment which brought
him back to the United States from Bahrain. Fortress could foreclose on him
at any time on $270 million in loans. Sony Music, Jackson’s partner in
Sony/ATV Music Publishing-is trying to buy the loans from Fortress with help
from Citigroup. The latter is asking for a small piece of Jackson’s holdings
in order to do this. Fortress, my sources say, won’t give up, and wants a 20
percent piece of Jackson’s pie.

Then, of course, there are the problems in California, most notably the
closing down of Neverland. Jackson still has fines to pay to the Department
of Labor. And if he ever wants to have a staff there again, he has to get a
workmen’s compensation policy.

And where is Jackson exactly? Sources say the Four Seasons Hotel is his
likely crib of choice, although he’s also used the Palace on Madison Avenue.
Paparazzi, start your engines!

Source: FOX News