Raymone Bain didn’t file taxes, federal or state, for 2008. This week in Washington DC she pleaded guilty to those charges. Long before Bain was Michael Jackson‘s publicist and then manager, she worked for the disgraced former mayor of Washington, Marion Barry. He didn’t pay his taxes either, although that was the least of his problems. Somehow Bain forgot all that: the past repeats itself.
Bain is accused by the government of not filing or paying taxes for 2006, 2007, and 2008–the years she managed Michael after his acquittal. I think everyone would like to see those tax filings. It was during those years that Jackson was AWOL and incommunicado. He lived in Bahrain, suburban Virginia, Ireland, and Las Vegas. He went to Japan for a lucrative fan fest that Bain arranged. At least 300 fans reportedly paid $3,400 to meet Michael Jackson. In other words: the magic number of $1 million. Deals were cut, money changed hands, and still Michael Jackson was broke.
As Michael Jackson’s publicist, Bain was hired and fired a few times. Michael’s lawyer, Tom Mesereau, fired her on the eve of Michael’s acquittal in 2005. It was a bad scene. But once the trial ended, Bain was back, this time as manager. I feel somewhat to blame. In the spring of 2005, Bain came and went from the trial in Santa Maria, California. One night when she returned, CNN’s Jim Moret and I took her and her associate to dinner. I drove. Along the way, I explained to Bain the nature of Michael Jackson’s financial problems–his massive loans, and debt to Sony/ATV Music, the Beatles catalog saga. It was the first time she’d heard it.
In 2008, after she’d been fired, Bain got into more hot water. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,336991,00.html. According to investor Jason Cestaro, Bain represented herself as an agent who could sell him Jackson’s Neverland Ranch. This also happened in 2008–oh yes, the same year for which Bain now admits not having reported, paid or filed taxes.
Bain, according to reports, will be sentenced on August 31st. She faces a possible 12 month prison sentence and $105,000 in fines.
