Jackson In More Financial Trouble?

It has been reported that Michael Jackson has secured 10 million dollars (5.62 million pounds) of credit against his Neverland Ranch.

The current court case against him means the embattled superstar faces hefty legal bills, estimated by legal experts to be as high as 2.8 million.

But the arrangement for a loan with the Bank of America cited in property records is not evidence that the star is facing financial problems, sources close to Jackson say.

Earlier this year Jackson's outstanding loans were estimated to be as great as 141 million, but he was reported to have taken advantage of falling interest rates to consolidate debt and lower his loan payments.

Last month Jackson's investment adviser Charles Koppelman moved to quash persistent rumours that the star is broke, saying: "Everything's in good shape. He's in no financial straits as far as I'm concerned".

Meanwhile in other Jackson news, lawyers for news organisations have petitioned the judge presiding over the recently-convened grand jury to unseal transcripts of the 13 days of testimony that led to Jackson's indictment. So far most of the evidence seen by the jury last month has remained confidential.

KS