State orders Jackson to shut ranch

MICHAEL Jackson has been ordered to close his Neverland Ranch for allowing workers’ compensation insurance to lapse at the exotic estate that has been home to elephants, orangutans and other animals over the years.

The State of California issued the order yesterday, two days after a Neverland Ranch worker reported that a colleague who was injured did not have state-required health coverage. Jackson was fined $69,000 (around €58,000) over the failure.

Local animal welfare agencies were notified of the shutdown so they could make arrangements to feed and care for the animals.

A subsequent investigation determined that coverage for 69 employees at the Santa Barbara County ranch had lapsed on January 10, spokesman for California Department of Industrial Relations Dean Fryer said.

“In effect, it shuts them down,” Mr Fryer said.

Raymone Bain, a spokeswoman for Jackson, said the singer learned of the situation at Neverland when he arrived in Bahrain from London yesterday. Jackson, 47, has lived in Bahrain since being acquitted of molestation charges last year.

This week’s developments represent the latest in a slew of worker complaints against the ranch. Since the beginning of the year, 47 employees complained to the department that they haven’t been paid, Fryer said.

On Tuesday, the department sent a letter to an accounting firm that handles Jackson’s business, demanding payment of $306,000 (€257,260) in wages.