SMH at Michael paying this cat 150K a month…

was in dire financial shape when he signed on as Michael Jackson’s personal physician earlier this year at $150,000 a month. The Las Vegas cardiologist owed a total of at least $780,000 in judgments against him and his medical practice, outstanding mortgage payments on his house, delinquent student loans, child support and credit cards. Court records chronicling Murray’s woes in Las Vegas, where authorities searched his home this week as part of a manslaughter investigation into Jackson’s death, might help explain why — beyond the chance to get close to a celebrity — Murray seized the chance to keep the pop star healthy through a series of concerts in London. But more than that, the financial pressures on Murray could help prosecutors establish a motive if he ends up facing charges. “Here he is, dealing with one of the most famous people in the world. There may have been a great deal of pressure to do what Michael Jackson wanted, give him the drugs he wanted, treat him the way Michael Jackson wanted to be treated, even if it wasn’t in keeping with medical protocol,” said Steve Cron, a criminal defense attorney and adjunct professor at Pepperdine University’s law school.

“Dr. Murray has lost the ability to make a living as a result of this investigation,” Chernoff said. “His hope is he can forestall foreclosure until he can once again begin working as a doctor.” Murray’s cresting financial woes fit into a history of money problems. He filed for bankruptcy in California in 1992 and had a string of tax liens in California and Arizona between 1993 and 2003. Also, a former business partner in an energy-drink distribution venture claimed Murray owed him $68,000. John Thomas, distributor of a drink called Pit Bull, said that in 2005 and 2006 Murray had the rights to distribute the product in Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean island nation where Murray lived and worked before coming to the United States in the 1980s to study medicine. The drink never gained popularity there. Murray paid his bill for a first shipment, then didn’t pay for three subsequent shipments, Thomas said.

Everybody stay crying broke these days. SMH

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