Hotel empire queen Leona Helmsley, 67, lost...

Hotel empire queen Leona Helmsley, 67, lost another bid to have an appeals court toss out her indictment on federal charges of conspiracy, extortion, tax fraud and failure to pay $1.2 million in income taxes. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Helmsley’s request for a dismissal of charges against her in an April 14 indictment. In a 47-count indictment, Leona and Harry Helmsley and two officers of the Helmsley Corp. were charged with conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and failing to pay $1.2 million in federal income tax. The tax evasion trial is slated to begin April 24. However, it is still undecided whether Harry Helmsley, 79, will be deemed competent to stand trial. Both Helmsleys also faces state charges in the tax evasion case.