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In the days following her death last August, newspapers and web sites around the world examined the life and times of Leona Helmsley, delving once more into the billionaire hotel operator's 1989 conviction on Federal income tax evasion charges and her public reputation as "The Queen of Mean."

As it turns out, such a legacy was about a decade in the making, starting when billionaire real estate mogul Harry Helmsley named wife Leona president of Helmsley Hotels – a subsidiary of Helmsley Enterprises that ran more than two dozen hotels in ten states – in June of 1980. The crown jewel of the chain was the fabulously opulent Helmsley Palace Hotel. Advertising agency Beber Silverstein Group had Leona herself appear in national advertisements alongside the tagline, "The Only Palace in the World Where the Queen Stands Guard."

That royal designation would come back to haunt her, as both menial and executive hotel employees operated in fear of the Queen's tyrannical ways. According to employees, the staff of one hotel would often alert the staff of another whenever Leona planned a surprise visit, and "Queen of Mean" eventually became a sort of code name.

This meanness spilled over into family matters as well, like when Jay Panzirer – Leona's son from a previous marriage – died suddenly in 1982. Two months after the funeral, Leona had his son's widow and small child evicted from their home, which was owned by a subsidiary of Helmsley Enterprises. She also tried to bill her daughter-in-law for the transportation of her son's casket from Florida to New York, but lost that battle in court.

Naked Greed

One year after kicking Leona's daughter-in-law out of her house, the Helmsleys plunked down $11 million for Dunnellen Hall, a 21-room mansion in Greenwich, Conn. that overlooked the Long Island Sound. Then they ordered $8 million worth of renovations, resulting in the addition of eight rooms.

When the housing and gardening contractors came round to collect, the Helmsleys balked, claiming sub-par work and overcharging. Some of the contractors filed suit against the Helmsleys, eventually winning $5 million for their work, and discovering along the way that their work was being billed to Helmsley Enterprises as a business expense, in order to avoid paying the taxes. When the New York "Post" broke the story in 1987, Harry and Leona Helmsley were indicted on charges of tax evasion.

Harry Helmsley, then 79, was deemed too enfeebled to stand trial, so Leona was forced to stand alone (well, with a team of lawyers) to defend against the allegations that she and her husband drained their business for stuff like a $1 million marble dance floor, a $45,000 silver clock and $130,000 worth of stereo equipment.

The trial proved to be a goldmine for the New York media, as dirty little secrets turned up almost daily: Leona avoided state taxes on $485,000 worth of jewelry by having it recorded as being mailed to one of her hotels. Leona's bras being were entered into accounting records as uniforms for hotel staff.

But none were quite as powerful as the remembrance of former Dunnellen Hall maid Elizabeth Baum, who proclaimed on the witness stand that Leona had once remarked, "Only the little people pay taxes."

One month later, "Newsweek" put Leona Helmsley on its cover next to the headline, "Rhymes with Rich."

Soon thereafter, Leona was convicted of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, three counts of tax evasion, and ten counts of mail fraud. Judge John Walker sentenced her to 16 years in prison and ordered her to pay more than $7 million in back taxes.

"Unlike many defendants who come before the court," he told her, "you were not driven to this crime by financial need; rather, your conduct was the product of naked greed."

End of a Fairy Tale

Once lawyers had appealed the ruling, Leona wound up serving just 20 months in a federal penitentiary. Following her release, she took back control of the Helmsley Hotels and returned to the caring of her husband. Harry Helmsley died in 1997 at age 87.

"My fairy tale is over," Leona said at his funeral. "I lived a magical life with Harry."

In the last decade of her own life, Leona contributed freely to worthy causes. She donated $5 million to the families of New York firefighters after 9/11, and another $5 million to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In 2006, New York-Presbyterian Hospital received a $25 million gift to improve the treatment of digestive diseases.

Had the so-called Queen of Mean experienced a change of heart? Not according to her will, which saw $15 million going to her brother, $10 million in cash and trust funds for two of her grandchildren, nothing for two other grandchildren ("for reasons that are known to them"), $100,000 for her chauffer and a $12 million trust fund for her dog, Trouble, named so because it once bit a maid.

This is the twelfth in our series "From the Vault: Financial Analyses of the Sometimes Rich and Famous," an ongoing ReZoom.com Finance feature that spotlights celebrities and their money. To learn about the imprisonment of Martha Stewart, click here.