Nov 6, 2008 4:43 pm US/Eastern
'Rockefeller' Wants Gold Coins Back To Pay Lawyers
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter in court Oct. 2.
WBZ
The man who calls himself
Clark Rockefeller wants to get gold coins worth $280,000 back from federal authorities who seized the coins after he was arrested for allegedly kidnapping his 7-year-old daughter.
Rockefeller, who authorities say is actually German citizen Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, is being held without bail as he awaits trial.
After his arrest in Baltimore in August, the FBI seized the coins and about $12,000 in cash.
Gerhartsreiter's new attorney,
Jeffrey Denner, said Thursday that he was close to an agreement with prosecutors that would return at least half the coins. Gerhartsreiter needs the coins to pay attorney fees, Denner said.
"Essentially, it's his money, and the government has no right to it," he said.
Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley, said prosecutors were reviewing the request.
"We're not opposed to it, provided that certain conditions be met," Wark said.
A hearing on the request was postponed until Dec. 1.
Gerhartsreiter, 47, also faces a claim on the
money from his ex-wife, Sandra Boss, who wants to be reimbursed up to $80,000 for legal fees and the costs of her stay in Boston during the search for her daughter and later legal proceedings.
Gerhartsreiter has pleaded not guilty to parental kidnapping, assault and other charges for allegedly snatching his daughter, Reigh Boss, off a Boston street on July 27.
Authorities say Gerhartsreiter has been living under multiple identities since coming to the United States in 1978. California authorities have called Gerhartsreiter a "
person of interest" in the 1985 disappearance of a San Marino, Calif., couple, Jonathan and Linda Sohus.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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