Conspiracy Payoff Alleged in Jackson Case

‘Disprovable and Laughable’

Joe Tacopina, Tyson's attorney, denied that his client played any role in an alleged conspiracy or received any payoff from Jackson.

"It's disprovable, but it's also laughable," Tacopina said.

Tacopina said Tyson did pick up $1 million in cash from the bank for Jackson on one occasion but only delivered it to the pop star. The money, Tacopina insisted, belonged to Jackson, and Tyson never spent it.

According to Tacopina, Tyson had a letter from Jackson authorizing the pickup and delivery of the money.

"That is how he [Jackson] got his cash," Tacopina said. "It wasn't something that was common for Michael to walk into a bank and take out large cash withdrawals. He had one of his confidants, employees, friends, i.e., Frank Tyson, go and do that for him. They're [prosecutors] looking at the transaction with blinders on. They're saying, "Aha! You know Michael Jackson permitted Frank Tyson to take $1 million, it was a thank you.' "

Tacopina said it was not unusual for Jackson to have large sums cash available.

"You know, maybe Michael needed a million dollars because he wanted to put two more Ferris wheels in his back yard and buy another car," Tacopina said. "Who knows? But it's not really something that the average person can relate to. That does not make it criminal."

Legitimate Business Deals Alleged

The four other unindicted alleged co-conspirators in the case also deny being paid to intimidate Jackson's alleged victim's family and call the allegations ridiculous, sources told ABC News. They say that any payments to them were made as part of legitimate business deals, many of which predated the molestation case against Jackson.