Joe Jackson Guns For Branca, McClain
Published
|
Updated
Michael Jackson never signed his will and the named executors have committed fraud, according to legal papers just filed by Joe Jackson.
As we first posted on TMZ ... there was a clerical mistake in the will. The document indicates Jackson signed the will in L.A., yet he was in NYC on the day in question. We're told the will was in fact signed in New York and the witnesses saw Michael put pen to paper.
Joe doesn't think it was a clerical mistake -- he thinks his son never signed the will. Joe Jackson claims John Branca and John McClain should be booted as administrators because they concealed what Joe calls a "fraud."
Joe Jackson -- through his lawyer, Brian Oxman -- claims Jackson fired Branca in 2003 and believed the attorney embezzled MJ's money. Joe claims an "investigation" showed an improper relationship between Branca and Tommy Mottola and the two were "illegally funneling Michael Jackson's money to off-shore accounts in the Caribbean."
Oxman attached a copy of the "investigation" -- conducted by a company called Interfor -- which says "Some sources in the entertainment industry think highly of Branca. However, other sources suggest that he has built his career on the strength of his clients to a point where are (sic) rumors of irregularities involved in accounting fees."
The report goes on to suggest Branca contacted the Justice Department after he was fired and allegedly dropped a dime on Jackson, suggesting MJ's new lawyer -- Alvin Malnik -- was utilizing "Jackson's financial resources and cash business to facilitate Malnik's comprehensive money laundering activities."
As we've already reported, Jackson re-hired Branca before the singer died.
UPDATE: Howard Weitzman, the lawyer for Branca and McClain, tells TMZ: "These claims filed by Joe Jackson are so outrageous that they don't deserve any response. John Branca and John McClain, who were designated by Michael Jackson in his will as executors of his estate, will continue carrying out Michael's wishes for the benefit of his mother, his children and charities."