Ding Dong the Witch is dead!! Which old Witch? The Mean Old Witch!!!
Only the little people pay taxes
Hey Folks –
Well, the passing of Leona Helmsley at 87 does nothing to dispute the adage: only the good die young. Leona was a mean old cur, a shining example of what one who puts acquisition of wealth above humanity becomes and how they end up.
According to Wikipedia:
Hotel career
Leona Panzirer was a real estate agent when she met and began her involvement with the then-married multi-millionaire real estate investor Harry Helmsley. Supposedly under her influence, he began a program of conversion of apartment buildings to condominiums. He later began to concentrate on the hotel industry, building the Helmsley Palace on Madison Avenue.
Leona Helmsley became infamous during the 1980s for being a tyrannical "boss from hell" whose petulance seemed ill-suited to the hospitality industry. Harry left her his entire fortune, estimated to be worth well in excess of $5 billion, upon his death in 1997.[1]
Part of her company's portfolio at one time included the Empire State Building, The Helmsley Palace (now The New York Palace), The Park Lane Hotel, The Helmsley Middletowne Hotel, The New York Helmsley Hotel (a.k.a. The New York Harley), The Helmsley Windsor Hotel, The St. Moritz (now Ritz Carlton), The Carlton House hotels, the Harley Hotels chain and The Helmsley Building.
Tax evasion conviction
She was convicted of tax-related crimes in 1992. United States Attorney Rudolph Giuliani was one of the two chief prosecutors in that case.[2] She was convicted and sentenced to prison for one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States,[3] three counts of tax evasion,[4] three counts of filing false personal tax returns,[5] sixteen counts of assisting in the filing of false corporate and partnership tax returns,[6] and ten counts of mail fraud.[7]
Harry Helmsley was initially charged as well; however, he was found to be both physically and mentally unfit to stand trial, having begun to appear enfeebled shortly after the beginning of his relationship with Leona Helmsley years before. At trial, one of the key witnesses was a former housekeeper at her Greenwich, Connecticut home, Elizabeth Baum, who recounted having the following exchange with Leona Helmsley four to six weeks after being hired in September 1983, "I said, 'You must pay a lot of taxes.' She said, 'We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.'"[8] Helmsley denied ever saying this. Most legal observers felt that Mrs. Helmsley's personality alienated the jurors. She was convicted but eventually managed to have her sentences, originally decades long, largely set aside except for 18 months, which she served. She was released in January 1994.
When the last of her appeals failed and it was clear she was going to jail, she collapsed outside of the courthouse, later diagnosed with a heart irregularity and hypertension
After prison
Helmsley's later years were apparently spent in isolation. A 2001 Chicago Sun-Times article depicted her as estranged from her grandchildren and with few friends, living alone in a lavish apartment with her dog [9] In 2002, Helmsley was sued by Charles Bell, a former employee, who sued her alleging that he was discharged solely for being homosexual. A jury agreed and ordered Mrs. Helmsley to pay Bell $11,200,000 in damages; a judge subsequently reduced this amount to $554,000.[10]
Donald Trump and Helmsley despised each other.[11]
Death
Leona Helmsley died from congestive heart failure, aged 87, on August 20, 2007, at her summer home in Greenwich, Connecticut [12][13] Cardiovascular disease ran strong in her family, claiming the lives of her father, son and a sister.
Good riddance !!!
- Uke Man
Hey Folks –
Well, the passing of Leona Helmsley at 87 does nothing to dispute the adage: only the good die young. Leona was a mean old cur, a shining example of what one who puts acquisition of wealth above humanity becomes and how they end up.
According to Wikipedia:
Hotel career
Leona Panzirer was a real estate agent when she met and began her involvement with the then-married multi-millionaire real estate investor Harry Helmsley. Supposedly under her influence, he began a program of conversion of apartment buildings to condominiums. He later began to concentrate on the hotel industry, building the Helmsley Palace on Madison Avenue.
Leona Helmsley became infamous during the 1980s for being a tyrannical "boss from hell" whose petulance seemed ill-suited to the hospitality industry. Harry left her his entire fortune, estimated to be worth well in excess of $5 billion, upon his death in 1997.[1]
Part of her company's portfolio at one time included the Empire State Building, The Helmsley Palace (now The New York Palace), The Park Lane Hotel, The Helmsley Middletowne Hotel, The New York Helmsley Hotel (a.k.a. The New York Harley), The Helmsley Windsor Hotel, The St. Moritz (now Ritz Carlton), The Carlton House hotels, the Harley Hotels chain and The Helmsley Building.
Tax evasion conviction
She was convicted of tax-related crimes in 1992. United States Attorney Rudolph Giuliani was one of the two chief prosecutors in that case.[2] She was convicted and sentenced to prison for one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States,[3] three counts of tax evasion,[4] three counts of filing false personal tax returns,[5] sixteen counts of assisting in the filing of false corporate and partnership tax returns,[6] and ten counts of mail fraud.[7]
Harry Helmsley was initially charged as well; however, he was found to be both physically and mentally unfit to stand trial, having begun to appear enfeebled shortly after the beginning of his relationship with Leona Helmsley years before. At trial, one of the key witnesses was a former housekeeper at her Greenwich, Connecticut home, Elizabeth Baum, who recounted having the following exchange with Leona Helmsley four to six weeks after being hired in September 1983, "I said, 'You must pay a lot of taxes.' She said, 'We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.'"[8] Helmsley denied ever saying this. Most legal observers felt that Mrs. Helmsley's personality alienated the jurors. She was convicted but eventually managed to have her sentences, originally decades long, largely set aside except for 18 months, which she served. She was released in January 1994.
When the last of her appeals failed and it was clear she was going to jail, she collapsed outside of the courthouse, later diagnosed with a heart irregularity and hypertension
After prison
Helmsley's later years were apparently spent in isolation. A 2001 Chicago Sun-Times article depicted her as estranged from her grandchildren and with few friends, living alone in a lavish apartment with her dog [9] In 2002, Helmsley was sued by Charles Bell, a former employee, who sued her alleging that he was discharged solely for being homosexual. A jury agreed and ordered Mrs. Helmsley to pay Bell $11,200,000 in damages; a judge subsequently reduced this amount to $554,000.[10]
Donald Trump and Helmsley despised each other.[11]
Death
Leona Helmsley died from congestive heart failure, aged 87, on August 20, 2007, at her summer home in Greenwich, Connecticut [12][13] Cardiovascular disease ran strong in her family, claiming the lives of her father, son and a sister.
Good riddance !!!
- Uke Man
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