Inquiry Into Warner Chairman Closed Out

The U.S. attorney’s office in New York said Thursday that it has closed out its long investigation of Steven J. Ross, chairman of New York-based Warner Communications Inc., in a stock fraud and kickback case involving the entertainment firm and the organized-crime-tainted Westchester Premier Theater.

One Warner executive was convicted and two others pleaded guilty in the case, during which a federal prosecutor stated in open court in December, 1982, that Ross was “the real culprit.”

On Thursday, Jane Parver, an assistant U.S. attorney, told reporters that prosecutors were unable to develop evidence that they believed would justify bringing charges against Ross. The inquiry can be reopened if further evidence emerges, Parver added.

Asked to comment, a Warner spokesman explained that Ross “said he was innocent since the beginning” and that consequently the decision was not surprising.

Jay Emmett, once a member of a three-member office of the president under Ross, and Leonard Horowitz, a former official at the theater in suburban New York City who later became a Warner sales executive, pleaded guilty to fraud charges.

They were placed on probation after testifying as government witnesses against Solomon Weiss, Warner assistant treasurer, who was convicted of racketeering, perjury and fraud in November, 1982.