ZZZZ Best Built on Lies, Founder Minkow Testifies

Carpet-cleaning entrepreneur Barry Minkow, who is on trial on charges of securities fraud, admitted today that his company, ZZZZ Best, was built on lies.

Hanging his head and speaking in a near-whisper on the first day of the defense case, Minkow, 22, admitted that he bilked banks and investors out of millions of dollars worth of loans and stock offerings.

Minkow decided to testify shortly after suffering a serious setback in his defense theory that mobsters made him perpetuate the fraud. U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian imposed strict limitations on the evidence he will allow to prove the so-called “Mafia-made-me-do-it” defense.

The judge also refused to allow testimony about the fact that Minkow took medication for hyperactivity even while he ran his business from a garage, later took strong tranquilizers and, later still, “massive doses of steroids.”