Corruption Case Hinges on Whether $60,000 Can Fit in Ferragamo Bag

NEW YORK — On the final day of the trial of Norman Seabrook, former powerful head of New York City's correction officers’ union, the prosecutor borrowed a page from the trial of O.J. Simpson.

Prosecutor Martin Bell stood in front of the jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan and held aloft a black Ferragamo bag that has been at the center of the corruption case. The government argued that Seabrook invested millions of dollars of union money into a risky hedge fund in exchange for a bribe of $60,000, delivered to him in the designer bag Bell held up. The defense argued that the bag never held bribe money, but was filled with fine cigars Seabrook received as a Hanukkah present.

But a question, initially raised by Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is overseeing the case, remained. Could $60,000 in cash even fit in the bag?

In a moment that echoed the famous scene in which O.J. Simpson tried unsuccessfully to put on the killer gloves at trial, Bell tried to prove that the cash could indeed fit. He held up three stacks of bills equaling about $20,000 and slowly placed each one inside the bag.

“There is still an ocean of room in that bag,” he said, showing off the empty space as two jurors nodded. “It would have been dramatic if it didn’t fit,” he added.

Much of the government’s case against Seabrook focused on the testimony of Jona Rechnitz, a wealthy real estate developer who both sides agree has a history of lying about matters big and small. Rechnitz, who pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy and is cooperating with the government, said he had brokered a deal between Seabrook and Murray Huberfeld, the founder of the hedge fund Platinum Partners. The deal they struck was that Seabrook would invest the union’s retirement money in Huberfeld’s fund and, in exchange, Huberfeld would pay him a cut of the profits.

“Norman Seabrook made decision after decision after decision, over the course of months, to betray the members of his union,” Bell said. Seabrook’s last trial, in the fall of 2017, ended in a mistrial.

In that first trial, Rechnitz testified over several days about his close relationship with Mayor Bill de Blasio, contending that he donated tens of thousands of dollars to the mayor’s election campaign in exchange for personal favors and a direct line to City Hall. But this time, prosecutors kept Rechnitz’s testimony more narrowly focused on his business dealings and the payment to Seabrook.

Rechnitz testified that he delivered the kickback one December night in 2014, stuffing thousands of dollars in cash into the Ferragamo bag. Because he said he had initially promised Seabrook a payout of $100,000 or more, he bought the bag to “sweeten the mood,” even as he gave Seabrook less than what he was expecting.

The defense argued that Rechnitz could not be trusted on any matter, including the contents of the designer bag.

“If they awarded a Nobel Prize in manipulation, Jona would be a recipient,” said Paul Shechtman, Seabrook’s lawyer.

Shechtman said that Seabrook “fell for Jona,” who took him on lavish trips and treated him to fancy dinners and expensive gifts. He said that Rechnitz had given Seabrook fine cigars on the night in question, which is what the bag really contained.

“I don’t have cigars with me, but trust me, they fit in that bag,” Shechtman told the jury. He argued that Rechnitz had made up the story about the bribe in an effort to provide useful information to the government and receive a lower sentence for his own crime.

Shechtman also argued that the formula that Rechnitz laid out in the kickback scheme did not make mathematical sense, and would not result in a $60,000 payout to Seabrook. He displayed the equations on a PowerPoint for the jury and then tried a Johnnie Cochran-inspired rhyme of his own: “If the numbers don’t tie, Jona’s story is a lie.”