SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Oct 6 – Neil Cole, the brand
manager charged with financial
chicanery was freed on $1
million bond on December 5,
2019 and allowed to travel
throughout the United States
by agreement of the US
Attorney's Office, contrary to
the "SDNY and EDNY only"
restrictions they routinely
place on less affluent
defendants.
SDNY Magistrate
Judge Barbara Moses accepted
the agreed bail conditions,
and said that they can be
appealed or asked to be
modified before SDNY Judge
Edgardo Ramos to whom the case
was assigned.
On October 6,
2021, the jury trial began and
Inner City Press live tweeted
Day 1 here,
podcast here,
vlog here.
On October
7, cooperator Seth Horowitz
spend the whole day on the
stand, still on direct. Inner
City Press live tweeted here:
Horowitz: The
purchase price only increased
because Iconic agreed to let
them out of their commitment
on Rocawear Kids. [Then
reading] Gain related to the
sale of our Umbro and Lee
Cooper...
Now Gov Exh (GX)
104, Iconix' press release on
3Q 2014 earnings
AUSA: Why did you
authorize this $1.9 million on
an invoice you say didn't
document such expenses?
Horowitz: Because we were
cycling the $5 million back.
[Will prosecutors run out the
clock today on Horowitz and
allow no or only minutes of
cross examination?
Horowitz: It was
on December 18, it was my
anniversary and I was off but
I got a call about the joint
venture, that it was back on.
I spoke with Neil Cole and he
told me and he'd gone to GBG
and negotiated a deal himself,
the Middle East joint venture.
Horowitz: That
had a $3.1 million payment
back to GBG for something
called market research.
AUSA: You've
described 2 transactions where
Iconix returned money in
exchange for a higher purchase
price.
Defense:
Objection - leading!
Judge Ramos:
Overuled.
AUSA: What did
Mr. Cole tell you to do with
the materials?
Horowitz: It was
a late night at Iconix. Neil
came to my door looking
frazzled and angry. He said to
me, I need you to get rid of
any emails of Jason and
Garrett and I think Kevin Yaff
(sp), a license of Roca
Horowitz: I was
scared, I was panicked. I
sorted emails by their size,
looking for what would be term
sheets, and I deleted them.
AUSA: Anything else to destroy
documents?
Horowitz: I did.
I was in Neil's office and he
asked me if I had gotten rid
of any hard docs
Horowitz: At a
later date, I sent a series of
emails from my work account to
my person account, because I
knew that we had done
something wrong, I knew we
could be in trouble. I knew
Neil would do anything to use
others as scapegoats or fall
guys
Horowitz: We
inflated our revenue and we
didn't tell our legal team. We
dragged out the payments, we
would lie in our response to
the SEC. AUSA: There was
the Dec letter from the SEC?
Horowitz: Another in February.
GX 112, for now only to the
parties & #Whorowitz
Horowitz: Neil
told me he sold $40 million of
stock around the Middle East
transaction and that he needed
me to put my name as the lead
negotiator. I said I was OK as
long as he was listed as one
of the participants.
Horowitz: I saw
Neil go into Willy's office
and change everything, who
negotiated what. I told Neil
in front of Willy I was
against this. He said that's
how it is and slammed the
door. I asked Willy to not hit
send to the SEC. Neil screamed
at me, Fuck you
Horowitz: It was
December 2014... I learned of
stock sales by Neil at the end
of October 2014, in the time
between the press release and
the 10Q. AUSA: Which
transactions took place then?
Horowitz: Lee
Cooper. Judge Ramos: We're
done for the day,
jurors.
Judge Ramos (with
jurors gone): How much more?
AUSA: I'll finish in the first
interval tomorrow.
Judge Ramos: I
may release [a juror]
Adjourned.
So,
cross-examination coming...
On October 5,
after picking the jury and before opening
statements begin October 6 at 9:30 am, Judge
Ramos explained why like EDNY Judge Donnelly
in the R.Kelly trial, he did not require
prospective jurors to be vaccinated.
Then, in open
court, Cole's lawyer said he wants to cross
examining cooperation witness Seth Horowitz
about concealment of prostitution related
activities. Judge Ramos said that question
will not be allowed - and when the Assistant
US Attorney asked to seal the transcript,
Judge Ramos agreed. But it was in open
court. Can you say, #Whorowitz?
On September 30
in an in-person final pre
trial conference, Cole's
lawyer argued that hearing
"$28 million" would be
prejudicial. The AUSA said it
show motive, and Judge Ramos
agreed, citing US v.
Quattrone, 441 F.3d 153,
179-80 (2d Cir. 2006).
Inner City
Press will continue to cover
the trial.
Watch this site.
The case is US
v. Cole, 19-cr-869
(Ramos).
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room 480, front cubicle
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2021 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com for
,
