Huguette Clark's Multi-Million-Dollar Fortune Remains in Hands of Her Financial Managers - by James Fanelli - NY Daily News

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Heiress Huguette Clark (l., in the 1930s) has had her $500M fortune, including the 42 rooms she owns at this swanky 5th Ave. apartment, handled by her lawyer and accountant for decades.

Millionaire recluse Huguette Clark's $500 million fortune will remain in the hands of financial managers who are under investigation, a Manhattan judge decided Thursday.

Judge Laura Visitacion-Lewis tossed a request by Clark's relatives to appoint an independent guardian to oversee her finances and property, including Fifth Avenue's biggest co-op apartment.

The judge called the family's concerns about Clark's health and state of mind "speculative" and "insufficient" to merit wresting control from her lawyer, Wallace Bock, and accountant, Irving Kamsler.

"I am grateful the judge took the time to parse through the issue and Mr. Bock hopes that at this juncture Ms. Clark now be allowed to maintain her valued privacy," Bock's lawyer, Robert J. Anello, said in a statement.

Manhattan prosecutors are investigating whether Bock and Kamsler have mishandled her estates. No charges have been filed.

Three of Clark's kin claimed in a petition last week that she is "likely to suffer personal and financial harm," and is "at risk of abuse" from the two men.

In the family's petition, they cited concerns about Clark making a $1.5 million donation to build a security system at an Israeli settlement where Bock's family members lived. They also claimed that her financial handlers had limited access to the copper-fortune heiress.

"We remain concerned about the safety and well-being of our great aunt," the family said in a statement after yesterday's ruling.

"We are disappointed that the court did not see fit to appoint an unbiased, independent evaluator to examine her circumstances, particularly in light of the numerous reports that raise serious questions about whether professionals ... are taking advantage of her while at the same time they assert that they are honoring her wishes by keeping her isolated from her family."

jfanelli@nydailynews.com

Reclusive, 104-year-old Heiress Huguette Clark Lavished "Millions" on Her Lawyer by Dan Mangan - NYPOST.com

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EXPLOSIVE: Estate lawyer Wallace Bock allegedly got a $1.5 million check from reclusive Huguette Clark to build a "bomb shelter."

A 104-year-old heiress lavished "millions" of dollars in gifts on the family of her lawyer, who is now under investigation for his handling of her finances as she lives out her days in a Manhattan hospital, an ex-employee told The Post.

Huguette Clark once bought at auction a dol lhouse worth well more than $10,000 for lawyer Wallace Bock's grand daughter, and gave him a check for about $1.5 mil lion to build a "bomb shelter" for a settlement in Israel where his daughter and her family live, two people said yesterday.

Bock's co-workers were so amused by his reliance on the copper heiress that they once gave the estate lawyer a purported signed copy of her last will and testament -- which named him as a big beneficiary -- at the firm's holiday party, said Bock's former paralegal, Cynthia Garcia.

"It was a joke," said Garcia.

Bock, after initially being stunned because he thought it was the real deal, then realized the document was phony, Garcia said. "But he kept it," she added.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office is aggressively investigating Bock, 78, and Clark's accountant, Irving Kamsler, 63, for allegedly mismanaging Clark's $500 million fortune. Kamsler is on probation for attempting to send porn via the Internet to an undercover detective posing as an underage girl.

"What they're doing to her is horrible," Garcia said, referring to Clark and her millions.

Garcia said Bock called her Thursday night -- after years of no contact -- and asked her not to discuss with anyone his dealings with Clark. He also allegedly asked if she had gone on "vacation recently."

"He sounded patronizing . . . and so desperate to placate me," Garcia said.

Hours later, the DA's Office called Garcia and left a message asking to speak with her, she said.

Bock's spokesman, Michael McKeon, said, "After more than 50 years as an attorney, Wally Bock has an excellent reputation and an unblemished record. Any inquiry will confirm that all matters have been handled appropriately and consistent with Ms. Clark's wishes."

"We believe Ms. Garcia is confused about the facts," McKeon said.

Kamsler refuses to comment.

Clark, whose US senator-father was America's second richest man in the early 1900s, has spent more than 20 years living in New York City hospitals, and is currently at Beth Israel Medical Center.

Meanwhile, her 42-room Fifth Avenue apartment is unoccupied, and her lavish mansions in California and New Canaan, Conn., have been vacant for more than 50 years, costing her millions of dollars in maintenance and taxes.

Garcia said Bock has several daughters and grandchildren living in Israel, and that after 9/11 he had Garcia write to Clark asking for $1.5 million to "build a bomb shelter" in Israel.

"He was not asking other people" for money, Garcia said. "In less than an hour," they received a check in that amount from Clark, Garcia said.

A source close to Bock confirmed that Clark, for the purposes of building a security system to protect against a terror attack, had made the substantial donation to the West Bank settlement where Bock's daughter and grandchildren live.

The donation was initially held in escrow by a lawyer there before the shelter was built, the source said.

With Rebecca Rosenberg, Laura Italiano, Sabrina Ford and Jeane MacIntosh