Report: DA's Office Is Probing Finances of Heiress, 104; Lawyer & Accountant Handle Her $500M Assets
The elder abuse unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office is reportedly probing the finances of an extremely wealthy New York heiress who has spent the last 22 years living in a hospital.
Huguette Clark, 104, is estimated to be worth about $500 million, with about $200 million sunk into three properties she apparently hasn’t visited in 20 to 50 years, according to msnbc.com.
Her financial affairs and access to her hospital room are controlled by attorney Wallace “Wally” Bock and accountant Irving Kamsler.
Assets that have been sold or are for sale to fund her operations include one of the three properties, in Connecticut (the others are in Santa Barbara, Calif., and Manhattan); a $6 million Stradivarius violin; and a $23 million Renoir painting, according to an earlier msnbc.com article.
Most of Clark’s interaction reportedly is with Kamsler, who declined to talk with the network. Bock, of Collier Halpern Newberg Nolletti & Bock, says he talks to his client regularly on the phone and her mind is clear, although she suffers from vision and hearing problems. He declined both an interview with Clark, on her behalf, and to discuss her situation further, MSNBC reports.