California authorities have closed pop star Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch after workers complained they have not been paid since December.
He has been ordered to pay almost $170,000 in fines for failure to pay wages and cover staff insurance, officials said.
The action has renewed speculation about Jackson’s finances. California state labour officials went to the ranch, near Santa Barbara, on Thursday and told staff there to stop working.
Thirty Neverland employees had complained that they have not been paid since December, according to a Division of Labor Standards Enforcement report. A total of 69 workers have not been paid or had insurance contributions made for them.
The California Department of Industrial Relations on Tuesday ordered Jackson to pay more than 300,000 dollars in back wages and imposed a 100,000 dollar fine.
Jackson has been fined another $69,000 for the failure to pay insurance — $1,000 for each worker.
Dean Fryer, a spokesman for the California Department of Industrial Relations, said that Jackson’s representatives had been working closely with the department.
“He cannot operate with employees without workers compensations ... He has to comply by March 14. If he doesn’t, we’ll file a lawsuit in civil court,” Fryer said.
The 47-year-old former pop superstar has spent most of his time in Bahrain since he was acquitted in June on sexual molestation charges by a California jury.
His Washington-based spokeswoman, Raymone Bain, told AFP: “In matters of his personal finances and his children, he (Jackson) has not really issued statements. I’m not sure that’s going to change. What I can say is that he’s not in LA. He’s in Bahrain.”
In December, The Los Angeles Times reported that Jackson was in negotiation with creditors to extend a loan so that he would not have to sell Neverland Valley ranch and his stake in the Beatles catalogue.
It said he had an estimated $270m in debt having borrowed some $200m from a finance company in April.
Jackson’s collateral was his 50 per cent in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which owns over 250 Beatles songs, among other properties. The company owns 4,000 songs in all, including some of Jackson’s, and the singer’s ranch, and Jackson’s part is worth $500m.
