Finances Of Heiress, 104, At Center Of NY Probe

By VERENA DOBNIK

NEW YORK (AP) -- A 104-year-old heiress to a Montana copper mining fortune now living in a New York hospital room is at the center of a criminal investigation into her fortune and welfare, two people familiar with the probe told The Associated Press.

The Manhattan district attorney's office is looking into how Huguette Clark is being cared for and how her finances are being handled, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the probe.

Clark has been living in hospitals since leaving her luxury co-op overlooking Central Park more than 20 years ago, according to building staff who saw her depart in an ambulance.

Attorney Wallace Bock and accountant Irving Kamsler have been in charge of her financial affairs for years, and they're among the few people who have contact with her.

"She's very much alive," Bock told the AP recently.

Neither Bock nor Kamsler returned calls about the investigation, which was first reported by MSNBC.com.

The Manhattan district attorney's office declined to say Wednesday whether a probe was under way. The office successfully prosecuted the case surrounding Brooke Astor, the late philanthropist and heiress whose 85-year-old son was convicted of scheming with her attorney to bilk millions of dollars from her.

Clark is worth about half a billion dollars -- four times as much as Astor.

There is no public record of a Clark will, and distant relatives have not seen her in years.

Neither Bock nor Kamsler has been charged in the Clark probe, but the questions remain: How are she and her fortune being cared for?

When she left home on the stretcher, Clark was frail but not physically ill, according to building staff.

Since then, nobody has lived in her meticulously maintained 42 rooms at 907 Fifth Ave., or her Connecticut castle, surrounded by 52 acres of land and now on the market for $24 million.