The longtime operator of a boutique on Chicago’s Gold Coast pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to hiding her ownership of fur coats, jewelry and a Rolls-Royce automobile after she filed for personal bankruptcy in 1995.
Helina Kontaxis, 55, admitted that she claimed less than $3,000 in assets in the bankruptcy and concealed five fur coats, two diamond rings, a diamond bracelet, a pair of diamond earrings, her cosmetics business and the 1981 Rolls-Royce owned by her clothing business.
Kontaxis, who has also gone by Helena Kontos and Helena Kogiones, operates Contessa Bottega, an upscale women’s clothing store at 1 E. Delaware Pl.
According to a 1991 Tribune article, she is known as “Contessa Helena,” a title she said she inherited from her grandfather, a Greek count.
