A couple of days ago, Radar Online posted video of Dancing with the Stars hostess Brooke Burke getting super pissy in a videotaped deposition regarding potentially stolen goods purchased by her and her boyfriend, David Charvet. We didn’t report it at the time because the story seemed somewhat vague to me and I wasn’t sure if there was interest in it. Brooke and David are being questioned as part of a civil lawsuit in which a high end appliances store is suing a former employee for stealing and fencing their inventory. These two bought about $70,000 worth of appliances for their new home from the employee, who instructed them to write out checks directly to her. They’re claiming they had no idea the goods were stolen, but they only paid about 1/2 the value on the items. The lawyer for the plaintiff insists tahat Charvet and Brooke knew exactly what was going on. Charvet’s brother-in-law is a friend of the accused employee’s boyfriend, who is said to have introduced Charvet to her. Here’s more from Radar, which has quotes from the plaintiff’s lawyer:
Brooke Burke’s live-in boyfriend –former Baywatch star David Charvet — knew he was buying stolen goods from a high-end design store, charges the attorney representing the victimized store.
The Dancing with the Stars host was deposed in a lawsuit brought by EuroConcepts versus Zalfa “Zee” Halaby, a former store employee.
RadarOnline.com broke the story Monday that Burke was heavily questioned about buying and receiving stolen merchandise. Her deposition is on video and you can see it here.
In a new exclusive interview with RadarOnline.com, Sanford Passman, attorney for the plaintiffs in the civil suit, said he believes Charvet knew he was buying stolen goods.
“I absolutely believe that Charvet knew what was going on,” Passman told RadarOnline.com. “As for whether Brooke knew, who knows? She very well may have turned over all the financial dealings to David but my problem with that is that she went to EuroConcepts, she had Halaby into her house on more than one occasion.
“Maybe David was running the show but how she couldn’t have found out I find hard to believe.”
Burke and Charvet have two children together. Checks from one of Burke’s accounts were made out directly to Halaby instead of to the store in 2007. Halaby was also paid in cash. In her deposition Burke reveals that Charvet sometimes has the ability to authorize checks from her account and also strongly contends she had no idea that Halaby was allegedly cheating her employer.
In the civil complaint another person accused of purchasing stolen goods is Charvet’s brother-in-law Daniel Kessouss.
“Our position is that Halaby had this thing going on for some time and that she had a romantic relationship with one of the defendants, Naftali Amiel,” Passman told RadarOnline.com. “Amiel introduced David Charvet to Halaby and also knows another one of the defendants, Charvet’s brother in law, Daniel Kessous.
“I think it was one of those situations where one person told another person about the great deal they could get with this woman.”
According to Passman, there is also a related criminal case and he theorizes that he can get Halaby to tell all about who knew what.
“If the investigation continues, Halaby will most likely cop a plea deal on her criminal matter, she’ll lose her 5th amendment right and I will put her on the witness stand in the civil trial and she’ll spill her guts,” Passman told RadarOnline.com.
Passman says he tried twice to schedule a site inspection of Charvet’s Malibu home, (which he shares with Burke) but the couple continue to cancel.
He charges that they purchased an outdoor stainless steel gas BBQ, fridge, freezer, microwave and a six burner range from Halaby.
“We wanted to take pictures of the merchandise they had installed in their home so we could match it with the serial numbers of what they bought. But they keep canceling,” Passman told RadarOnline.com.
Burke and Charvet allegedly bought roughly $70,000 worth of appliances and, in the deal of a lifetime, only paid about half of that price. According to the complaint, Burke and Charvet paid Halaby directly for the merchandise with a check and in some cases, cash. EuroConcepts never saw a penny of the money.
“Our job now is to find out how deeply Brooke Burke and David Charvet are ensnared in this,” Passman said.
[From Radar Online]
As far as celebrity scandals go, this one is relatively minor but it’s still interesting. Brooke was really annoyed in that deposition so I’m inclined to think she had no idea about this and is fed up with being blamed for it. If her boyfriend knew he could still face some legal charges. It seems suspicious that these two aren’t letting the lawyer get the serial numbers off the appliances they purchased. I used to see Brooke as this kind of sunny happy-go-lucky person but now that I’ve seen this deposition I’m getting the impression that her whole media persona is an act. This could do some minor damage to her reputation.
I’d be kicking his a$$ all over Hollywood!
My question is how did this employee get all this merchandise in the first place? Just seems odd.
I really don’t care one way or the other about Brooke but anyone who buys stuff like this (especially $70k) knows something isn’t right.
As far as being pissy in a deposition goes, aggressive lawyers could have made Mother Terresa get pissy. Deps are tough.
can’t hate on her for being pissy during a dep…
I can’t stand Brooke Burke- she makes the old host on DWTS look like a rocket scientist. I think she totally gets off on portraying herself as this very humble, yet gorgeous, yet totally humble, yet hot and sexy, yet mother of the year, yet terminally humble woman. Bleh. It makes me laugh that she’s always commenting on how she’s trying so hard to get herself to the alter with her baby-daddy- I think that’s the only thing she is smart about; she doesn’t want to share her money with him!
As I was reading this I was on Burke and Charvet’s side because we all know that “stars” do get deals like this, only because of the money they are able to spend and their “rich” friends that they can mention said store too.
But with the fact of the Charvet connection to the friend of the boyfriend of the employee.
I think they knew something was not in the up and up with this deal, but went with it anyway because of the money they would save.
Hey body language in this video makes me very suspicious and I think she knew something illegal was going on. She’s so fidgety and has her arms crossed in front of her like she’s in a defensive posture. I would love to see “Eyes for Lies” analyze this one! She comes across as such a bitch and I love how the lawyer in the end starts talking to her like she’s a 12 year old (which is how she’s acting).
Ugh, I know that aggressive lawyers can make a person super pissy but he wasn’t being aggressive imo, just persistent. She came across as a real bitch. How can you not recall authorizing a check for payments of 7,000 and 10,000.00. for merchandise that’s in your house? And if you’re money conscious enough to take advantage of a sweet deal then you’re money conscious enough to be aware of monies going in and coming out of your damn checking account. The only thing that makes me believe that she might not have known exactly what was going on is an email radar had up from Halaby requesting money in her name so that she could “pay the vendor.” Personally I would have questioned that – why your name as the payee and not the vendor’s? But if they trusted this person I could see how it might not have occurred to them that the merchandise were stolen. So yeah, I’m not going to say she’s guilty just based on her pissy, defensive attitude but too many things don’t add up for me to think she’s wholly innocent.
any person with half a brain cell who goes into a store to purchase merchandise and then pays an employee directly (not the store), would know that there is something not kosher going on. If the employee offers to sell you the merchandise at less than half the price that the store sells it to you, wouldn’t that raise a flag? These two KNEW EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING ON. They paid the employee in cash and with a company check. You are going to tell me that BB who is not married to David Charvet would not know that he is paying someone with a check from her company? Come on. This is what happens when people are greedy and try to save money by illegal means. There is a saying in Spanish that roughly translated says “what you get for cheap money will always end up being more expensive in the end”.
Why are there so many cheques, did they order each appliance separately, or pay in instalments? That’s odd. Especially for wealthy people. I’d also like to know if Brooke and/or David ever visited the store, and what sort of invoices and receipts they have for the merchandise? At least one of them is guilty of knowing they were involved in a shady deal.
Damn they sure are cheapskates!
Pathetic. I’m sure she makes tons of money.
I thought they were married. Their attorney may have told them not to let anyone in, once they’re in you can’t change it.
I bet her husband knew but she didn’t and she’s fit to be tied.
If he knew, what a dumbass. How embarrassing for their family.
She’s not gonna marry David Charvet, she’ll lose her alimony payments from her plastic surgeon ex-husband.
Oh wow, I had this impression that BB was a really sunny nice upbeat person. I was soo WRONG. This woman’s true character and personality came out and it is not pretty!
She once wrote a blog about “there’s a b$tch inside of me” well I hate to tell her the b&tch came out big time.
The funny part is that she acts so annoyed and like she is so much more intelligent than the attorney. Hello Brooke Burke you have a high school education and are a Fredericks of Hollywood sleazy model and playboy bunny. You are not smarter than a successful educated attorney!
Cool! Yeah well a big part of this is prob part ofcareonecreditnews.com but I partially agree with your approach.
bb, the saying is: “I always end up leaving less expensive” jajajja.