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*A businessman suing Michael Jackson for unpaid loans, royalties and other debts blurted out to the court Friday that the pop star once requested his help in adopting boys from Brazil.
F. Marc Schaffel, Jackson’s former associate, dropped the bomb suddenly while testifying about his background in the gay porn industry. During defense questioning about his personal ties in Brazil, he denied that the purpose of one trip was to recruit talent for gay videos. Jackson's lawyer, Thomas Mundell, then asked if he had an interest in a company known as Latinboys.
Schaffel bristled and said he did not, then blurted out: "The main purpose of my trip was Mr. Jackson wanted to adopt some boys."
Even Schaffel’s lawyer Howard King was shocked by the sudden outburst.
"It's not really relevant to this case," King told reporters outside court. "I thought we were not going to go there. We've tried to be upstanding."
Mundell said it was the first time he had ever heard of such allegations against his client, even throughout the pretrial investigations.
"It was an effort to smear Mr. Jackson with a remark that could be interpreted to hurt him in light of the case against him last year," Mundell said. In June 2005, Jackson was acquitted of child molestation charges.
Schaffel had testified earlier that in 2001, Jackson sent him to deliver $300,000 to a "Mr. X" in Argentina and that he went to Brazil to withdraw the money from a personal account he had there. But Schaffel never disclosed what the payment was for, and in a videotaped deposition of Jackson that was played Friday, the singer denied that he ever sent Schaffel to deliver money to Argentina.
Meanwhile, Schaffel’s original lawsuit of 3.8 million has dropped down to $1.6 million.