Feud escalates as brother accuses executors of pop star’s estate of criminal misconduct and that his will was a fake

Turmoil in Michael Jackson’s family continued yesterday as a family feud that has engulfed the singer’s mother and children continued to play out online, on cable TV and in a videotaped driveway confrontation that authorities continue to investigate.

We believe measures are being put in place that will help protect them from what they are having to deal with

It should perhaps be no surprise that a family that has spent decades in the spotlight is airing its troubles in public but the dispute has left many, including estate executors, worried.

“We are concerned that we do what we can to protect them from undue influences, bullying, greed, and other unfortunate circumstances,” executors John Branca and John McClain wrote in a letter posted on fan sites hours after deputies responded to a family disturbance at the hilltop home where Katherine Jackson and her three grandchildren live.

By day’s end, the singer’s brother Randy Jackson accused Mr Branca and Mr McClain of criminal misconduct and claimed his brother’s 2002 will was a fake.

“They know that they’ve been caught, they know that they’ve falsified a document and they know that there are questions that we want answered,” Randy Jackson told the Rev Al Sharpton in his MSNBC show. “This family is united to right a wrong.”

He accused the estate of trying to keep the family’s disagreements at the forefront to deflect attention away from questions about the will.

Michael Jackson’s estate has denied all claims of wrongdoing and hinted that further action may be taken to protect the singer’s children.

“We believe measures are being put in place that will help protect them from what they are having to deal with,” Mr Branca and Mr McClain wrote.

Michael Jackson’s only daughter, Paris, has posted updates in recent days on Twitter, including her displeasure with not being allowed to speak with her grandmother for more than a week.

On Tuesday, she wrote: “Nine days and counting... so help me God I will make whoever did this pay.”

Katherine Jackson was reported missing over the weekend but later found to be with her daughter Rebbie and other relatives in Arizona. She has not spoken to her grandchildren since leaving the Los Angeles area on July 15.

Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said deputies continue to investigate the altercation that took place on Monday afternoon but he said there were no indications it involved the singer’s children. He said the incident involved two men but declined to identify them further.

Randy Jackson said he, his brother Jermaine and sister Janet went to the home in Calabasas on Monday to invite his brother’s older children, Prince and Paris, to join their grandmother in Arizona.

Sandra Ribera, an attorney for Katherine Jackson, said authorities were called after the singer’s children were accosted by relatives who followed them into their gated community in Calabasas.

Ms Ribera claims: “A plan has been in place for the last three years to remove Katherine Jackson from her home and her belo-ved grandchildren.”

Michael Jackson died in June 2009 at the age of 50 and left his estate to care for his mother and three children.

He left nothing to his father or siblings, who have repeatedly tried to intervene in the estate.