Jail threat looms
Infamous hand doc's new young women photography "hobby" is probed, crazy spending detailed
It's been quite the week for Dr. Michael Brown, who landed himself in a Harris Country jail on Monday for contempt after missing a recent court date in his ongoing divorce proceedings from estranged wife Rachel Brown.
Since Tuesday, the good doctor has been in family court, trying to explain a spending spree that violates a court order limiting personal purchases until the divorce is finalized.
"Lavish" doesn't come close to describing the Brown Hand Center founder's years of spending, which includes three mansions in Miami, two million-dollar yachts and $221,815 in charges at the Waldorf Astoria hotel.
Brown could face six months in jail for his actions. Texas district judge Sheri Dean will give her final ruling Friday morning.
Lawyers for Rachel Brown detailed nearly 100 alleged "business purchases" the doctor made in 2011 on a company credit card issued to former Brown Hand Center exec Manny Guyot. Here's a random sampling of expenditures:
- $111,000 at Cartier, New York City
- $79,500 at a store called VCH (which sounds like it might be dirty)
- $22,000 at Hermes, Houston
- $50,000 for jewelry in Bal Harbour, Fla.
While Brown admitted that some of the items were for himself, he said most were gifts for Bridget MacTavish — his then-girlfriend who later sued him for giving her herpes. Luckily, the doc came armed with excuses for the credit card bills.
"It is an act necessary and consistent with my past conduct as CEO for these very successful businesses," he told Rachel Brown's attorney Robert Hoffman from the witness stand.
"[The purchases help] me to have some health for my mind, my body and my spirit . . . and to love and be loved. All these things help me to function better as a CEO. That's all I was doing."
"It helps me to have some health for my mind, my body and my spirit . . . and to love and be loved. All these things help me to function better as a CEO. That's all I was doing."
He then went on to explain that MacTavish made a number of purchases on the corporate card without his permission, racking up several hundred thousand dollars in charges. But Brown said MacTavish's alleged spending, which he never reported, had a positive outcome.
"The benefit," he noted, "was that I became more acutely aware of how I can be fleeced by women." (Stay classy, doc.)
The doctor seemed more comfortable explaining away the Miami mansions, which he said were simply smart investment decisions.
The million-dollar yachts, on the other hand, were harder to present as business expenses — especially considering that the boats are used for the doctor's new venture into photography. Attorney Robert Hoffman asked for details, which made for one of the week's best in-court conversations:
Hoffman: You're involved in a photography business? A business in which you photograph young women?
Brown: I wouldn't characterize it that way . . . It's just a startup. [Photography's] something I've been interested in all my life. It was my desire to turn a leisure-time hobby into a money-making enterprise.
Hoffman: And this hobby involves photographing young girls?
Brown: I wouldn't characterize it that way at all. I think my forte is landscape photography.
Hoffman: But I'm talking about photography of young women, which you have done on these two yachts. Correct?
Brown: With one exception, those pictures aren't part of the business. Most of those weren't professional. They were candids.
Come back to CultureMap for Judge Dean's final verdict.