‘Hughes is dead' Court claim

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33933, 28 August 1975, Page 18

‘Hughes is dead' Court claim

f N ZPA -p. tut er—Copyright) NEW YORK. Two stockholders have filed a civil court action contending that the elusive multimillionaire, Mr Howard Hughes is dead.

If Mr Hughes does not respond to their satisfaction, i they intend to ask the courts to appoint an administrator for his estate. The complaint, lodged with the State Supreme Court, alleges that while Mr Hughes is reputed to be residing at the Hotel Xanadu, in the Grand Bahamas, “He has been dead for a considerable period, and is claimed to be alive only for the personal profit of various and sundry persons.”

The contention that Mr Hughes is dead has been denied by his spokesman. Mr Richard Hanna, in Los Angeles. “Of course he’s alive — his office is in touch with him all the time,” he said. The action has been brought by Victor and Ellen Kurtz, of New York, minority stockholders of Air Liquidation, formerly known as Air West, and they seek from the company’s stockholders damages of SUSIOOm. Air West was taken over bv Mr Hughes in 1969. The complaint contends that Mr Hughes and some of his associates deliberately depressed the price of the stock to make the sale of the airline to Mr Hughes more attractive to stockholders, and that the air-

line’s directors, who opposed the sale, had pressure placed on them by the filing of lawsuits. The American Stock Exi change is named as a co.defendant, on the ground ■that it did not take proper 'steps to disclose the alleged fraudulent manipulation of stock prices. “Nobody has seen Mr Hughes for 10 years or more,” the Kurtzes lawyer said. “Unless it can be proved otherwise, he is either aead or incompetent, and the burden of proof must rest with Mr Hughes or those acting on his behalf.”