Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine, has entered into several business deals aimed at cashing in on her son's name and image, but she could loose all that she earns from the deals.

According to TMZ, Katherine owes a lot of money to the South Korean newspaper Segye Times. The newspaper had advanced Katherine, Joe and Jermaine $5.5 million for a Jackson Family concert series that never happened. In 1994, the newspaper sued and won a $4 million settlement that remains outstanding; it has been accumulating interest and has now grown to $13 million.

Segye Times has reportedly placed a creditor claim with Michael Jackson's estate. It is seeking an order from the judge in the case asking the estate to payoff Katherine's debt from the estate money due to her. However, at this point of time, the estate itself is under debt.

Katherine has entered into several deals with Toronto Businessman Howard Mann, who in the past has made his money with online gambling and erotica.

Mann was behind Katherine's recent coffee table book, "Never Can Say Goodbye." He and Katherine are now reportedly set to produce Michael Jackson films. Mann has also talked of producing albums from 273 unreleased Michael Jackson songs that have come into his possession.

Katherine and Mann's plans appear to conflict with the interests of Michael Jackson's estate, which owns exclusive rights to market his name and image. However, Mann considers his legal position sound since Katherine and Michael's children are collaborating with him on the project, and they are the beneficiaries of the estate.

Katherine is being paid a monthly allowance from Michael Jackson's estate based on her needs as assessed by the court. If those needs disappear, because of her business deals, the judge may well terminate the allowance.

Edwin Bradley, a lawyer for the Segye Times, tells TMZ that his client will place a claim on anything that Katherine and Joe earn.

source: http://www.sawfnews.com/Gossip/64474.aspx

I love Katherine and I do believe she only wants to keep Michael´s legacy alive, but sometimes I have a feeling, that there have been just too many projects connected with Michael in the past year (not all of them fully finished of course) and everything smells after only one thing - money... I would prefer the releasing of unreleased songs first, that´s what everybody has been waiting for and what Michael was known at foremost - his music... Maybe it would be better to announce only one thing at a time and not many of them at once and then wait for ages for them to come true. Just my opinion...