The federal tax evasion trial date for...

The federal tax evasion trial date for real estate magnates Harry and Leona Helmsley was set for Sept. 14, putting it ahead of state proceedings on similar charges of evading $4 million in income taxes. Judge John Walker in U.S. District Court in Manhattan held a preliminary hearing on the Helmsley’s 47-count federal indictment charging that they evaded income taxes by charging millions of dollars in renovations and furnishings at their 28-room Dunnellen Hall estate in Greenwich, Conn., to their hotel and real estate companies. The Helmsleys sat arm in arm in the second spectator row of Walker’s Foley Square courtroom, bodyguards on either side and behind them.