Saudis Involved in Secret Plan to Help ‘Guilty’ Michael Jackson Flee U.S

No matter the verdict in his 2005 child molestation trial, Michael Jackson was not going to jail.

Michael’s older brother, Jermaine, recently told London’s The Times magazine that an anonymous friend of Jackson hatched an escape plan for the accused molestor during his 2005 criminal trial that would give him safe passage out of the U.S., in the case of a guilty verdict.

Jackson’s destination, Jermaine said, was the island nation of Bahrain, located in the Persian Gulf.

Bahrain has no extradition agreement with the U.S.

“Why should he go to jail for something he didn’t do,” the elder Jackson said.

Jermaine said that Michael was unaware of the plan at the time.

Not likely.

Amid a financial and career slump, and with 20 years in prison looming over his head, Michael Jackson’s saving grace in 2005 came in the form of a wealthy Muslim who gave the “King of Pop” money, a safe haven and a shot at a career revival.

In 2003, when a second round of molestation allegations surfaced against Jackson, he developed a relationship with a friend of Jermaine’s, Abdullah bin Hamad Al Kahlifa.

Kahlifa, is the son of the governor of Bahrain’s southern providence.

Likely infatuated with the pop star, Kahlifa wired the financially-strapped Jackson $35,000 during the trial to pay an electricity bill for his Neverland Ranch estate, on which he defaulted in 2007.

Immediately after being acquitted of the charges in 2005, Jackson and his entourage boarded Kahlifa’s private jet — to Bahrain.

According to Khalifa, he flew Jackson to the Arab emirate to help re-build his career in the wake of the scandal, which left the singer strapped for cash.

Jackson’s debt was estimated to be about $500 million at the time of his death in 2009.

Fresh off the plane in his Bahrain escape, Jackson moved into a palace owned by Khalifa’s father, Sheik Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and was handed $500,000 in cash, Kahlifa said, for living expenses.

Soon after, a new recording studio was built for Jackson and he was lavished with gifts, mainly watches and jewelry, the sheik’s son said.

Kahlifa said that he and Jackson split after the two had a business-related falling out about a year into his stay.

In 2007, Khalifa sued Jackson for $7 million. The bulk of which, Khalifa said, he fronted to Jackson in return for a new album and autobiography from the singer. Also included in the sum was a $2.2 million loan to Jackson for repayment of some of his attorney fees.

Jackson was court-ordered that same year to pay $256,000 in additional legal fees to a firm that he stiffed after his acquittal.

Khalifa and Jackson were also due in court that same year over their loans, which Jackson said were a gift, but came to an eleventh-hour agreement on an undisclosed sum.

After Jackson’s death in 2009, estate executors received flack for allegedly profiting from the sale of his assets.

In 2010, Jackson estate managers reportedly paid off $200 million of the $500 million debt.

Latoya Jackson complained earlier this year that neither she nor any members of the Jackson family have received money from Michael’s post-death promotions. She went so far as to accuse estate executors John Branca and John McClain of conspiring to kill the pop singer.


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