One Down: Obscenely Decadent War Profiteer Hauled Off in Handcuffs

By Sarah Anderson, AlterNet. Posted October 26, 2007.

It looks like the party may be over for one corporate crook.

America's most ostentatious war profiteer is no longer a free man. In a long-anticipated move, FBI agents arrested bulletproof vest maker David H. Brooks in his Manhattan apartment at dawn on Thursday. In the tradition of Al Capone, Brooks was nabbed on allegations of financial shenanigans, despite strong suspicions that the defense contractor has much more serious crimes on his hands.

Brooks emerged as the poster boy for shameless war profiteering in November of 2005 when he blew some $10 million in profits from military contracts on a celebrity-studded party for his daughter. Leaked details of the bash drew national attention, including a description of Brooks' pink suede suit and photos of his daughter on stage with the rapper 50 Cent. A New York Times editorial compared Brooks to the ill-fated Marie Antoinette.

And indeed, while Brooks won't face a guillotine for his greed, he could spend up to 70 years in prison if convicted of all charges. The 71-page indictment (PDF) alleges that while Brooks was chief executive of DHB Industries, a leading provider of military body armor, he pocketed more than $185 million from insider trading, fraud and tax evasion. He is also charged with using millions of dollars in DHB funds for personal expenses.

A sampling of the charges authorities say Brooks concealed from shareholders and the IRS:

* $7,900 for a facelift for Brooks' wife

* more than $1 million for expenses related to his 100 trotting and breeding horses

* $101,190 for a belt buckle studded with diamonds, rubies and sapphires

* $101,500 for an armored vehicle for his family's use

* more than $1 million for numerous family vacations, including frequent stays at the Bellagio in Las Vegas and various Caribbean and European villas

* $31,802 to transport one of his daughters and her college friends to Halloween parties in Madison, Wisconsin, using a private jet

* hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonus checks drawn on a DHB bank account handed out by Brooks at a company Christmas party to non-DHB personnel, including his horse trainer

* and of course the predictable $10,000 here, $5,000 there for purchases at Luis Vuitton, Gucci, Gianni Versace, and Prada boutiques around the world

What makes Brooks' greed particularly obscene is that the bullet-proof vests that boosted his fortunes in the first place turned out to be not so bulletproof after all. In May 2005, the U.S. Marines recalled more than 5,000 DHB armored vests after they failed ballistics tests for stopping 9 mm bullets. As reported in a previous story for AlterNet, the Marine Corps Times revealed that Pentagon officials had dismissed repeated warnings by inspectors about deficiencies in DHB's vests.

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If this was China he would be shot.....and then body parts sold to the highest bidder....

they make pink suede suits?

Can you imagine having that kind of money to just toss around?.....That is obsurd! and the fact that he was more or less stealing it from the gov't That is my tax dollars at work right there! LOL....and I'm in the accounting field

I think more to the point is that he was selling defective vests
to our soldiers who were being killed...

this is the definition of evil....

One down, dozens and dozens, and dozens of war profitteers, including bush and cheney, to go. I would be excited that one of them was going down, if that actually meant that they were going to get the rest. I think Enron proved, all they are interested in, is making examples, to give the impression they actually care what these people do to us, and to our soldiers.

I agree with Davinci. Stealing money is one thing. Doing what they did with the money is another thing. But the worst part of this is the fact that the vests were defective.

Shows that the war profiteers (and any rational-thinking person knows exactly who they are)are the TRUE "Enemies of America".

Got that, Halliburton?

How about addig INSULT TO THAT INJURY???

If you will remember that before that contract was awarded The Famlies had been purchasing The Best Body Armor that Money Could Buy for their Kid's going into Iraq,But all that stuff had to be scrapped, in favor to the vastly infirior Body Armore that this Clown had supplied...

So why is Blackwater getting a pass?

BLACKWATER is getting a Free Pass,because BLACKWATER Iis Americas New National Police FORCE,
you really should be reading rense.com more often...

The other Zinger of the Year is that Blackwater started the San Diego Fires to Quell Opposition to their new 50,000 acre Traning Facility on The Mexican Border...

You got to connect the dots and see the money trail leading right back to Poppy Bush...

Yeah...

This scumbag makes inferior body armor for US troops. But because he is a big Republican party donor, all the tests that were done by Army authorities resulted in his body armor being "better"...

There were cases reported of soldiers ditching this crap and asking their families for the Dragon (superior) body armor, but their officers told them that if they were hurt in that armor they would NOT receive any benefits from the Army...

This scumbag also did a bat mitzvah for his little girl during which Aerosmith, 50cent, Tom Petty and others performed. I sh*t you not.

This human piece of sh*t is now going to jail, where all Republican traitors to the USofA belong.

And one more thing.

The bodyguards for the president and any official visiting Iraq do not use this guy's company's body armor - they use the Dragon body armor...

davinci post

I think more to the point is that he was selling defective vests
to our soldiers who were being killed...

this is the definition of evil....

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if they new it

that is grave indiffernce

that is murder

interesting

wheres that inner office memo when ya need it

curious post

they make pink suede suits?

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they make about anything if ya got enough money

What about Blackwater?

Anyone?

No, I don't think they
started the San Diego fires
but they did start a fire in Iraq.

How about killing innocent Iraqi
citizens, for starters?

I don't care whose bodyguard they
are, it's wrong and they should
be made accountable for it.

Instead they get amnesty?

Who the hell gave THEM amnesty?