Michael Jackson Pleads for Money on Tapes

Nov. 22, 2005 — -- ABC News has obtained phone messages placed by Michael Jackson to a former adviser who has filed a lawsuit against the pop star.

Marc Schaffel is suing Jackson for $3 million, claiming he was unpaid $800,000 for his work on two television specials and $2.3 million in payments and loans over a number of years.

Jackson countersued Schaffel, saying he is the one who is owed money.

On he tapes obtained by ABC News, Jackson is the one pleading for money.

"Hello Marc, it's Michael," one message to Schaffel begins. "Please, please never let me down. I really like you. I love you … Mark, I really need you to get … $7 million for me as soon as possible … Seven, seven and a half, umm, as an advance."

Schaffel says for over two years he was an adviser for and close confidant of Jackson. According to Schaffel, Jackson's bankers placed restrictions on the singer, so the star would use middle men like Schaffel to access his own money and arrange various loans.

ABC News has learned another former adviser to Jackson named Dieter Wiesner filed a civil complaint against Jackson in Los Angeles on Monday for $64 million.

"He uses people like Marc Schaffel and whoever he's currently using to get around the restrictions on his current financing," said Howard King, Schaffel's attorney.

Schaffel said Jackson often required large amounts of cash and sometimes he requested it in code. He said the money supported Jackson's lifestyle.

"You go to a restaurant, you have to close the whole restaurant down for the day, you know, pay for the entire day's receipts in the restaurant so that he can go in and enjoy a quiet meal," Schaffel said.

Schaffel said he once delivered $100,000 to Jackson in an Arby's fast food bag.

"When he wanted large amounts, he would call and say 'supersize them,'" Schaffel said. "The smaller amounts. The bigger ones went in duffle bags."

In 2003, Jackson turned to Schaffel to plan a response to the allegations that Jackson had had an improper relationship with a young cancer survivor. Later, Schaffel was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the California criminal prosecution of Jackson.

Schaffel says he has hundreds of voice mail messages from Jackson from 2001 to 2003 that show the nature of his relationship, including Jackson's darker side.

"Michael will yell at you, Michael will punish you, maybe not let you do something," Schaffel said.

Schaffel's relationship ended just before Jackson's most recent criminal problems. Schaffel said he is not surprised that since Jackson's acquittal, Jackson has relocated to Bahrain, because it fits Jackson's pattern of looking for a new friend.

Jackson attorney Tom Mesereau told ABC News, "When the jury hears the evidence, they will know Schaffel isn't owed anything." Mesereau said he would not comment on the content of the tapes and could not comment on the Weisner lawsuit until he had seen it.

Reported by Senior ABC News legal correspondent Chris Cuomo on "Good Morning America."