Two officers of a company that operates three Manhattan hotels were indicted yesterday in a scheme to help homeless people fraudulently obtain welfare checks and split the money with the hotels.
District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau of Manhattan, who announced the indictments, said they resulted from a study of the three hotels announced last December by the city. He said his office was delayed in moving more quickly on the case because of difficulty in finding the welfare recipients involved in the purported scam.
Although the investigation found that each of the hotels was receiving about twice as many welfare checks as it had occupied rooms, Mr. Morgenthau said the difficulty in tracking down homeless people believed to be involved in the purported scam resulted only in charges involving the Barbour. None of the 10 welfare recipients who were located in the search were charged because they are aiding the prosecution by giving testimony, officials said.
City welfare regulations require a person to provide a rent receipt to qualify for welfare, but officials at the city's Human Resources Administration said welfare recipients have never been formally referred by the agency to any of the three hotels.
Indicted yesterday were the vice president of the operating company, Zisla Nikelsberg, 49 years old, of Brooklyn, and the secretary, Larry Heller, 27, of Staten Island. Both were charged with second-degree grand larceny and could face up to seven years in prison. The Hotel Barbour Operating Company was also charged with grand larceny. It faces a fine of up to $24,000 if convicted.
All the defendants pleaded not guilty yesterday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan before Justice Harold J. Rothwax and were released on their own recognizance, pending a hearing on May 14.