Hey, if ya steal it, flaunt it.
Until getting tossed in jail, the alleged mastermind of a massive, multistate scheme that bilked millions from Fortune 500 companies lived fabulously in an art-packed corner mansion on West 75th Street.
Rabbi’s wife, Whitney Museum benefactor and erstwhile theater producer Dina Wein-Reis, 44, enjoyed the multimillion-dollar town house, which sits off Riverside Drive, when she wasn’t staying at her vacation home in Westhampton, or her Florida condo, property records reveal.
Wein-Reis and husband David Reis also have a West 83rd Street apartment, a Victorian home in Passaic, NJ, a 24-foot Chaparral pleasure boat, Lexuses, about eight family trust funds and at least nine bank accounts, records show.
Neighbors were stunned yesterday to learn that the “very trendy” gal down the street and five alleged accomplices have been federally charged with duping about a half-dozen giant firms, and that they may have swindled more than 40 more.
Ring members allegedly tricked the companies into selling them bulk quantities of consumer goods – like pens, contact lenses, razors, snacks and diabetes-testing equipment – winning their marks’ confidence by treating them to fancy dinners and Broadway shows. They then allegedly clinched the deals by promising the goods would be used for promotional giveaways.
Instead, the feds charge, the crew used a maze of bogus shell companies to sell the stuff to major retailers like Walgreens, turning massive profits.
Wein-Reis, husband Reis, 46, and their kids “kept to themselves” but also had a constant flow of activity at their house, a neighbor said.
“I’ve seen chairs being taken in and out,” one said, recalling guests arriving by the busload.
In February, the Reises, who are associated with the New York branch of the Shalom Center, a Jerusalem-based academic research institute, held a conference on Iraq that packed the house with 50 guests.
Wein-Reis was a member of the Whitney Museum of Art chairman’s council and claimed to have her own personal art manager – presumably to manage the more than 60 pieces of art that are now being eyed by the feds for possible seizure.
Her collection includes three works with a combined worth of $25 million. There’s also an Andy Warhol portrait of Truman Capote.
More than 50 companies were swindled, feds charge – including Balance Bar, Bausch & Lomb, Campbell’s, Bic, Eastman Kodak, Gillette, Kraft, Nestlé, Sara Lee and Unilever.
The alleged accomplices include Suzanne Carrico, a Manhattan cabaret singer. The feds say Carrico, 34, made phone calls to the companies and trained employees on how to hit up potential marks.
Carrico – who recently performed a show called “The Art of the Cahn,” featuring the music of Sammy Cahn – is a regular on the Manhattan cabaret circuit.