Monday, June 22, 2026

Broadway Scandal: Investor In Many Hits Pleads Guilty, Sentenced for Stealing COVID Funds, Wife of Ex-Brooklyn Real Estate Mogul

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EXCLUSIVE: Sue Gilad aka Suzanne Gilad has her name on dozens of Broadway shows.

She’s listed as a “producer,” but she’s an investor, who’s got — or had — her claws in hits like “Moulin Rouge,” “Merrily We Roll Along.”

Now Gilad, wife of sketchy Brooklyn real estate developer Boaz Gilad, has pleaded guilty to stealing $69,000 worth of COVID funds and small business recovery grants by filing falsified records.

Sue Gilad pleaded guilty to second-degree falsifying business records and was sentenced by Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Janet McDonnell on April 28, 2025 to a conditional discharge and ordered to complete 210 hours of community service, proof of which she provided to the court today. The defendant previously reimbursed the State for the funds.

Suzanne Gilad boasts in press clippings about collecting 30 Tony Awards from 17 Broadway shows she’s produced including “Smash,” “Buena Vista Social Club,” “The Outsiders,” and “The Who’s Tommy.”

Her husband, Boaz Gilad, the founder of Brookland Capital, bragged that he was the hottest real estate developer in Brooklyn until reality caught up with him in 2019. From 2017 to 2019 he billed himself as “a pioneering real-estate developer.”

In 2019 — when it seems Brookland ceased to exist — the Real Deal reported that “Gilad developed a reputation as one of the most prolific developers in Brooklyn and a pioneer in raising money on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange…the firm had been facing serious financial difficulties since at least 2018…”

At the time, the Real Deal said, Brookland ‘owed its bondholders $42 million over the next three years and has been looking to sell off several of its properties…”

Brooklyn District Attorney Gonzalez said in a statement this week, “This defendant took advantage of a public health crisis by falsifying records to secure government aid that was meant to keep struggling small businesses afloat. My office will continue to investigate and prosecute those who attempt to enrich themselves through fraud at the expense of programs designed to protect New Yorkers.”

Inspector General Lucy Lang said, “Abuse of scarce state resources — during the pandemic and always — is a crime against both government and New Yorkers in need. Thank you to our partners at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office for sharing our commitment to public integrity and to ensuring accountability for those who undermine it.”

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said: “The defendant submitted falsified copies of federal business income tax returns on behalf of three companies she controlled: In Fine Company LLC, Custom Broadway LLC and All the Josh Cohens LLC. As a result of the fraudulent applications, the defendant received approximately $69,099 in grant funds, which she then transferred into her personal bank accounts.”

A cursory Google search for Boaz Gilad reveal he’s spent more time in New York courtrooms than Broadway theaters. He’s been both plaintiff and defendant in a number of real estate deals gone bad. His LinkedIn page says he’s currently the host of a podcast called “Unmask:Taking the Mystery Out of Wins and Failures.” He also runs something called Zenith Clubhouse and is a former mortgage broker. In one article, he calls himself an “adjunct professor at NYU,” although I couldn’t find any other reference to that claim.

It’s as if the Gilads thought Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom could have been successes if they listened to them.

There’s scant evidence of the Gilads ever cross-referencing their businesses, although in 2006 they collaborated on a book called “The Real Estate Millionaire: How to Invest in Rental.” Self published, it sells for $46.75 on ebay.

Sue/Suzanne produced many of her shows as a team with someone named Larry Rogowsky, whose own Linkedin page includes a certificate from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. The pair’s latest project is a musical based on the much mocked movie, “Burlesque,” playing in London this summer.

Sue Gilad was certainly bold about her business dealings during the pandemic. She was featured in an article about how she as a Broadway producer survived COVID lockdown.

But now, thanks to the Brooklyn DA, we have a much better idea how she did it.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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