A sticky-fingered stage manager turned the NBC show “Lipstick Jungle” into a fashion victim when he stole nearly $30,000 in designer props from the Brooklyn set and tried to hawk them on eBay, a source said yesterday.
Arthur Moreira, 27 allegedly snatched a load of goodies – including a Fendi bag, a Gucci suit, some Prada clothes and a Burberry trench coat – from a Brooklyn warehouse where props are stored and scenes for the series are occasionally shot.
But it wasn’t until he swiped five handbags, which were on loan to the show, starring Brooke Shields, from high-end designer Toledano, that his plot to get rich quick unraveled, the source said.
The bags were supposed to be returned to company after they made their big appearance on the show, which is based on the famous fashion- and entertainment-world book of the same name by Candace Bushnell, who also created “Sex and the City.”
When they vanished, the peacock network apparently paid Toledano for the missing items and considered the matter closed, the source said.
A worker at Toledano, however, spotted the bags for sale via an eBay listing placed by a Moreira cousin. The bag maker informed NBC, which went to authorities in Brooklyn.
Investigators from the DA Charles Hynes’ office set up a sting with Moreira last week, where he rolled out the merchandise and bragged to investigators that the items “fell off the back of a truck.” He sold one of the Toledano bags for $500 and the Burberry for $1,400.
Moreira was picked up yesterday at his home and charged with 13 counts of grand larceny and three counts of petit larceny, the source said.
NBC could not be reached for comment, although representatives for the show took time yesterday to meet with authorities and identify the missing items.
Moreira was employed by Broadway Stages, which owns the storage and production facility where he was employed as a stage manger for the show.
Neither Moreira nor anyone from Broadway Stages could be reached for comment.
The bad news for “Lipstick Jungle” comes after the show got
a reprieve from network brass, who had earlier canceled the show but now are bringing it back.