Jackson adviser breaks his silence

Michael Jackson during rehearsals for the planned 02 gigs in London (AEG Live)

Dr Tohme Tohme vividly remembers the first time he met Michael Jackson to discuss the pop star's finances.

It is not the money talk that stays with him now, but his enchantment at entering Jackson's world of love.

"I saw how kind he was and what a wonderful human being. I saw him with his children and I had never seen a better father... I decided to do what I could to help him," Tohme, Jackson's financial adviser, said in an interview.

Tohme, a financier, had been contacted by Jackson's brother, Jermaine, who asked if Tohme could help to save Jackson's beloved Neverland ranch from foreclosure.

Tohme said he travelled with Jermaine to Las Vegas, where Jackson was living after years of wandering the world following his acquittal on child molestation charges.

They bonded instantly. "For the last year-and-a-half I was the closest person to Michael Jackson," Tohme said. He contacted Tom Barrack, the chairman of Colony Capital and a close personal friend. "He was hesitant to get involved, but I said, 'Let's go see Michael'," Tohme recalled.

After the meeting he said Barrack, who was impressed with Jackson's "intelligence and focus," bought the note for Neverland. But that was just the beginning of a business relationship that culminated in the London concerts that were to have begun next week.

Wearing a suit with no tie, Tohme, Jackson's last business manager and spokesperson, granted his first interview Friday to The Associated Press in the office of a lawyer friend.

Tohme said he abandoned everything he was doing in his own life to concentrate his time and effort on Jackson's affairs. He points with pride to the crown jewel of his and the new Jackson team's efforts: the contract with AEG for concerts at the 02 arena in London. He said Jackson was looking forward to the concerts because he wanted his children to see him perform.

He also said he was convinced that Jackson was in perfect health the last time he saw him, two days before he died. He added that the star kept himself and his children on a healthy diet, never ate red meat, did not drink and, as far as he knew, never took drugs.