War foe Ackerman made military profit, records show

BY J. JIONI PALMER | Newsday Washington Bureau

June 27, 2006

WASHINGTON - Rep. Gary Ackerman, who has been a vocal critic of the war in Iraq, has earned at least $85,000 from investing in a military supply company a year before it won a major government contract, according to financial records reviewed yesterday by Newsday.

Additionally, the records - reported on www.r8ny.com, a New York City political Web site - show Ackerman (D-Jamaica Estates) accepted a "personal loan" last year for as much as $100,000 from Selig Zises, a large investor in a California-based company that Ackerman called Xenonics Options. However, Ackerman, who denies any improprieties, said the alleged loan was actually a sale of stock that he accidentally misreported.

"I no longer have it," Ackerman said yesterday. "I sold it off a couple weeks back."

On March 9, 2002, Ackerman, a senior member on the International Relations Committee, purchased between $1,001 to $15,000 of stock in Xenonics, which is today valued at between $100,000 and $250,000, according to financial records.

The 12th-term lawmaker said he decided to invest in Xenonics - a name he said he doesn't even know how to pronounce - after a suggestion from Zises, whom he described as a friend. He said he doesn't see a conflict with the investment and his stand on the war.

"I invested in a couple of things he recommended and most of them went bust," Ackerman said.

The U.S. Army awarded the company a $2.98 million contract a year later to manufacture night-vision equipment. Ackerman said he played no role in steering federal dollars to Xenonics.

Within two years of his initial investment, Ackerman's stake in Xenonics Options had ballooned to as much as $1 million before it dipped.

"If I was smart or really knew something, I would have sold it then," he said. "I wish I would have bought more and I wish I would have sold earlier."