'Bulletproof' Jewish CEO in $10M 'scam' trial

[Ognir]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/ceo_ ... QotNj9E0zK

Even body armor might not help him now.

The Long Island bulletproof-vest mogul who shelled out $10 million for his daughter's star-studded bat mitzvah financed the fete and other wild luxuries by looting his own company and duping shareholders, federal prosecutors said yesterday.

Former DHB Industries CEO David Brooks made headlines in 2005 with the lavish Rainbow Room bash, for which he paid millions to have his daughter serenaded by such star acts as 50 Cent, Tom Petty and Aerosmith.

The former Old Westbury resident is now being tried along with his company's former COO, Sandra Hatfield, and faces up to life in prison if convicted on charges that include insider trading and securities fraud.
PAY TO PLAY: David Brooks allegedly tapped his body-armor firm's funds to book Aerosmith for his kid's bat mitzvah.
Dennis Clark
PAY TO PLAY: David Brooks allegedly tapped his body-armor firm's funds to book Aerosmith for his kid's bat mitzvah.

"This is a case about the naked greed of two people, Sandra Hatfield and David Brooks, and the lies and the fraud they used to satisfy that greed," said prosecutor Richard Lunger in his opening statement at their trial yesterday in Central Islip.

Lunger portrayed Brooks, who made millions selling bulletproof vests to the military after 9/11, as a voracious lover of luxury who spared no expense when it came to entertaining himself and his family.

Lunger said Brooks spent his millions on horse-racing interests, prostitutes, shopping sprees, trips to the South of France and luxury cars.

The prosecutor said Brooks would hop in his jet with the family and blow huge amounts of money at high-end boutiques like Gucci and Versace.

Using a projector, prosecutors showed jurors garish photos of Brooks at the bat mitzvah and zoomed in on his $100,000 diamond-encrusted belt buckle fashioned as an American flag.

Brooks spent more than $100,000 to provide party guests with digital cameras and iPods.

In addition to paying for personal expenses with company cash, Brooks and Hatfield illegally pumped DHB's stock price by misrepresenting its financial health, Lunger said.

Authorities allege the plot pushed the stock from a paltry $2 a share in early 2003 to almost $20 a share in late 2004.

The duo cleared $190 million -- with $185 million going to Brooks -- after dumping their inflated shares. The stock plummeted after their exit, and shareholders were wiped out.

But Brooks' lawyer, Ken Ravenell, characterized his client as the hardworking son of Holocaust survivors and noted that his body-armor products saved American lives in Iraq.

"Being wealthy is not a crime," Ravenell told jurors in his opening remarks. "This is a man who worked hard for what he got."

Ravenell said that Brooks was contractually allowed to use company money for personal expenses and that he never intentionally sought to defraud investors or inflate stock.

Brooks had been freed on $400 million bond until earlier this month but was thrown back in jail after US District Judge Joanna Seybert found he tried to hide assets from government investigators.

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