Former body armor execs at NY trial

[maddezmom]

Former body armor execs at NY trial
By FRANK ELTMANAdvertisement

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. – Two former top executives of the nation's leading supplier of body armor to the U.S. military accused of insider trading in an alleged $190 million scheme lied to push up the company's stock, a federal prosecutor said at the start of their trial Monday.

"This is a case of the naked greed of two people," U.S. Assistant Attorney Richard Lunger said in his opening statement.

David H. Brooks, the founder and former chief executive of DHB Industries, Inc., and Sandra Hatfield, the former chief operating officer, are accused of falsely inflating the value of the inventory of the company's top product, the Interceptor vest, to help meet profit margin projections. Brooks also is accused of using the company treasury as his own private bank account, spending $5 million on unauthorized expenditures.

Prosecutors say Brooks splurged on six-figure parties and other extravagances, including a diamond encrusted belt buckle and a Bentley. Brooks also allegedly spent millions of company funds on his horse racing hobby and allowed his daughter to use the company jet to travel to a Halloween party in Wisconsin.

Brooks' attorney Kenneth Ravenell told jurors that all the expenditures were approved by the company's board and various agreements between Brooks and the company.

more:http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20100125/APF/1001251132