James Brown Trustee In Hot Water

When a trustee sets up a company to collect money earned on behalf of an artist, the important part of the deal is making sure the performer actually gets the cash.

Unfortunately in the case of James Brown, his former trustee overlooked that small detail and is now accused of misappropriating $7 million from the late soul singer, according to a lawyer for Brown’s family.

Attorney Louis Levenson said following a court hearing November 15th regarding Brown’s finances that David Cannon set up a company that collected money earned by Brown both while the singer was alive and following his death last Christmas.

Profits were supposed to go to James Brown Enterprise Inc. but the company Cannon set up never gave the money to Brown.

Cannon said that when Brown went on tour, his company paid for expenses like plane tickets and equipment. Also, Brown was given $100,000 a month for "walking-around spending money" – because he says "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business" wasn’t the best businessman when it came to managing his own finances.

Cannon refused to say how much he made during his 16 years working for Brown, explaining to the judge that his attorney advised against answering specific questions, but noted that The Godfather of Soul earned millions of dollars a year.

Judge Jack Early ordered that Cannon provide all of his financial records by November 25th and pay $373,000 to Brown’s estate by November 20th. Cannon said he couldn’t come up with the funds but instead offered his South Carolina beach property, which he said was worth nearly $2 million.

Cannon may not be able to afford the payment to the estate but he did manage to drop $866,000 in August as a deposit to build a house in Honduras, where he planned to retire next year.

Questioning Cannon about the deposit, the judge said, "You’re treading on very, very, very thin ice."

The former trustee, who quit working for the estate in August after being accused of stealing money from the company, said he is unemployed and being audited by the IRS.

While Cannon may have a financial mess of his own, that isn’t the end of money troubles for Brown’s estate.

Levenson said Brown’s "I Feel Good Trust," which was established to help poor children attend school in Georgia and South Carolina, has run out of money.