Defence lawyer suspicious of singer's aides

Michael Jackson was surrounded by people who seemed bent on exploiting him, one of the singer's former lawyers testified.

David LeGrand, a corporate lawyer who worked for Mr Jackson for about three months in early 2003, said he was so suspicious of three of Mr Jackson's close aides that he hired a private detective to investigate them.

Mr LeGrand, called as a defence witness in Mr Jackson's child sex abuse trial, said he also suspected that one or two of the aides stole almost $1 million from the entertainer.

"I became suspicious of everybody. Everybody wanted to benefit from Mr Jackson in one way or another," Mr LeGrand told the jury.

Mr LeGrand named three Jackson aides who prosecutors allege worked with Mr Jackson to keep the singer's teen accuser and family against their will at his Neverland Valley ranch and elsewhere in February and March 2003. The aides have not been charged with any crimes.

The singer is also charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy and plying him with alcohol in order to seduce him. He has pleaded not guilty and could face 20 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Mr LeGrand said that within weeks of meeting Jackson aide Ronald Konitzer, "I began to disagree with Mr Konitzer's decisions on matters. I felt he was making bad decisions. So I became suspicious of his motives and actions".

The lawyer said he suspected that Mr Konitzer and perhaps another man, Dieter Wiessner, stole $965,000 from Mr Jackson. LeGrand said his suspicions were based on accounts passed on to him by another lawyer that "indicated that $965,000 had been disbursed to Ronald Konitzer or Dieter Wiessner".

Mr LeGrand decided to hire a private detective to investigate Mr Konitzer, Mr Wiessner and another aide, Marc Schaffel. But he was fired shortly after writing to Mr Konitzer and asking him about the suspicious withdrawals.

Mr Jackson's ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, testified last month that the singer was surrounded by "opportunistic vultures" who were out to take advantage of his generous nature.

Defence lawyers have sought to distance Mr Jackson from the conspiracy charge after calling a series of witnesses that challenged past claims of abuse by the entertainer.