David Brooks, the founder and former chief executive of DHB...

David Brooks, the founder and former chief executive of DHB Industries, Inc., has pleaded not guilty of falsely inflating the value of the inventory of the company?s top product to help meet profit margin projections. (Jan. 18, 2008) Credit: Howard Schnapp

A $101,000 jewel-studded belt buckle in the shape of an American flag was not the only unconventional and illegal purchase by the former head of a Westbury-based body armor company, federal prosecutors now say.

Prosecutors say David Brooks of Manhattan also used company funds illegally to pay for prostitutes for himself and several members of the board of the company he ran, DHB Industries, and also paid $1,000 a month for pornography for a relative, according to court papers.

The prosecutors have requested that they be allowed to use the new information on the eve of Brooks' trial, scheduled to start Monday, on charges of illegally making $185 million through massive stock fraud and living an over-the-top life illegally at the expense of DHB Industries. DHB was one of the largest manufacturers of body armor for U.S. armed forces, and Brooks and a co-defendant are accused of having taken $5 million illegally from DHB.

Brooks' lead attorney, Kenneth Ravenell of Baltimore, declined to comment on the prosecutors' latest allegations about prostitution or pornography, or, he said, any other material the government "may or may not" introduce at the trial.

Glenn Wiener, a spokesman for Point Blank Solutions, the new name for DHB, which has relocated to Florida, said Friday: "We don't comment on anything related to David Brooks as he has not been an employee since 2006."

U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert ruled late Friday that the new allegations are admissible.

In addition to the buckle, federal prosecutors have accused Brooks of a host of financial improprieties involving DHB money. The accusations include illegally using more than $1 million to pay for equine vitamins and trainers for his stable of 100 trotting racehorses; more than $100,000 in gifts for guests at a daughter's bat mitzvah; $17,000 for a jet to fly a daughter and friends from Atlanta to Madison, Wis., for a Halloween party; and hundreds of thousands of dollars for family vacations.

Brooks and co-defendant Sandra Hatfield are accused of operating a complex scheme between 2000 and 2006 to inflate the value of the company, sending the stock price soaring and then cashing in their own stock. Brooks made $185 million through the stock scheme, according to prosecutors. Hatfield, who was the chief operating officer of DHB, allegedly made $5.2 million, prosecutors said.

Hatfield's attorneys, Roland Riopelle and Maurice Sercarz, declined to comment on the case, as did federal prosecutors Christopher Ott, Richard Lunger and Christopher Caffarone.

Brooks' and Hatfield's trial is expected to last for several months before Seybert in U.S. District Court in Central Islip. They face up to 30 years in prison if convicted on the charges of conspiracy, securities, mail and wire fraud and obstruction.

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