Pro-Corruption Federal Judge Stuns Prosecutors

'SCAMMER' IS A $100M GAL
The New York Post by BRUCE GOLDING and JEANE MacINTOSH

The Upper West Side woman at the center of an alleged plot to scam millions from Fortune 500 firms has at least $100 million in personal assets, with $6.5 million of it liquid, prosecutors claimed in court papers yesterday. There's also an art collection valued at $35 million and seven homes, one of them newly purchased - in Jerusalem. Add that to her dozens of bank accounts and a missing, expired passport, and it adds up to a very substantial flight risk, according to the feds. The astonishing wealth of Dina Wein-Reis, 44, had Indiana prosecutors arguing that she should be kept locked up until she can be transferred to the Hoosier State, where she'd been indicted on charges of bilking as much as $20 million from consumer-products companies. But a Manhattan federal judge thought otherwise, and on Tuesday, sprung Wein-Reis - stunning the Indiana authorities.

In a "very unusual" move, Judge Shira Scheindlin reversed a colleague, who ordered last Thursday that Wein-Reis be detained until she was shipped to Indiana. In the first ruling, Magistrate Judge Michael Dolinger said he didn't have "sufficient assurance" that bail would ensure Wein-Reis' return to face the charges. But Scheindlin flipped the ruling on Tuesday - and let her go after relatives put up a $10 million bond and three homes. Indiana prosecutors raced to file a motion to stay her release, and a judge there signed papers at around 5:30 p.m. They got to Manhattan 15 minutes later, but Wein-Reis, who faces up to 17½ years in jail, was already out.

The Election Day move - conducted while the court was closed to the public - was described as "very peculiar" by a legal expert, who added that Scheindlin's actions were "very unusual." "Since the case is from another jurisdiction, it would make sense for the entire matter to be brought to that jurisdiction and for the court there to make all the decisions," said the expert, a former prosecutor who teaches law. "It's almost like [Scheindlin is] pre-empting the court and the prosecutors out there. "[Scheindlin] is acting in contravention of what the Indiana prosecutors want and the Indiana judge wants, and that's not a good situation." Wein-Reis showed up in Indy yesterday - arriving before dawn with her husband, David Reis. After a brief court appearance, at which she offered just two words - "Yes, sir" - as a judge read the charges, she was ordered to return today. She's expected to argue that the New York decision should keep Indiana from locking her up. Additional reporting by Alexis Hosier and Lorena Mongelli bruce.golding@nypost.com