The Upper West Side socialite charged in a $20 million charity scam says her nerves are so racked that she suffers “debilitating panic attacks” that completely immobilize her.
Dina Wein-Reis claims in court papers that she was diagnosed three years ago with “acute anxiety disorder” requiring continual doctor supervision.
She also complains that the charges against her led the eldest of her three sons, 18, to be diagnosed with acute depression.
Wein-Reis, 44, says the epilepsy of her middle boy, a 14-year-old, has been worsened by the “controversy.”
“His seizures have the potential to become more frequent and severe, and he is currently suffering from constant headaches and has begun therapy for the first time in his life.”
Authorities say Wein-Reis tricked Fortune 500 firms into selling her discount goods – supposedly destined for charity – that she instead sold for huge profits.
The alleged chicanery financed a lavish lifestyle that included a $35 million art collection and a $30 million mansion on Riverside Drive.
She’s now airing her family’s dirty laundry in a desperate bid to move her scheduled fraud trial to New York from Indiana, where several of the duped companies are based.
In addition to her and her kids’ mental state, Wein-Reis said she needs to be in New York to care for her sickly parents.
And she said an Indiana trial would disrupt her Orthodox Jewish rituals.