Breaking News: Jackson Closes Neverland - Raymone Bain Makes Statement

Jackson Closes Neverland House Michael Jackson has not left his Neverland Ranch for good, his spokesman said after authorities last week raided the ranch and forced the superstar to pay his employees months of back wages. "It is public knowledge that Mr Jackson currently resides in the Middle Eastern country of Bahrain. He therefore decided to close his house and reduce his workforce," Raymone Bain said Thursday in a brief statement. The action came a day after state labor officials announced that Jackson had agreed to pay his Neverland Ranch employees hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages, avoiding a lawsuit by the California Department of Industrial Relations. Employees who received their back pay Thursday were told they were being laid off because Jackson had shut down the ranch, the syndicated television news magazine "Entertainment Tonight" reported on its Web site Thursday night. Closing down the ranch, she added, "is a common practice when a residence is vacant for an extended period of time." Bain indicated the ranch was still operating, at least on a limited basis. "Reports indicating that Neverland has been closed or 'shut down' for good are inaccurate," she said in her statement. A call to the ranch's manager, Joe Marcus, was not immediately returned. Bain's statement, which did not indicate what plans Jackson has for the estate's future, concluded: "There will be no further comments regarding this matter." Source:AFP/AP/MJJF/eMJey