NY police arrest FXDD CEO Joseph Botkier in domestic dispute, charged with assault: NY Post

The New York Post is reporting that the CEO of retail forex broker FXDD, Joseph Botkier, was arrested earlier this week and later charged with assault, following an altercation with his wife Maria.

The NY Post article actually named Botkier the ‘Handbag Honcho’, since his family also owns a chic handbag line. And, since he allegedly clobbered his wife with a purse.

The 69-year-old Botkier is a former chief operating officer of his daughter’s trendy Botkier handbag collection. He apparently picked up a more pricey, metal-clasped Prada clutch to whack his wife in the face with during an alcohol-induced dispute in the lobby of their Tribeca building early Sunday.

Botkier was later charged with assault as well as criminal possession of a weapon, after police found a loaded .32-caliber semiautomatic handgun during a search of the apartment, court papers state.

The incident began as Botkier and his wife Maria were returning home at about 12:45 a.m. to their luxury building at 2 River Terrace. Apparenty actor Leonardo DiCaprio owns two condos in the same building.

The two got into a “struggle over a purse,” according to the documents.

Interestingly, Maria Botkier insisted to The NY Post that she – and not her husband – was the aggressor during the fight.

“I was attacking him and everything, beating him up, kicking him, ripping his pants apart,” Maria said.

“And he just didn’t know what to do. He just grabbed this [purse that] was on the seat and just, like, wanted me to stop. And unfortunately, he hit me over the forehead, like [a] heavy piece of metal.”

She refused to say what sparked the violence, which caused a gash over her right eye that required three stitches.

Maria Botkier said she hopes the case just goes away.

“In jeopardy is his job, his future . . . I do not want to press charges,’’ said the wife, whose hubby must stay away for now because of a restraining order.

Botkier was released after posting $8,550 cash bail at his arraignment Monday in Manhattan Criminal Court. His lawyer, Alex Spiro, said, “My client denies the charges, and we will fight them in court.”

Botkier has been with FXDD since 2004, following a 25 year career in finance and foreign exchange at various financial institutions. He oversaw the sale of FXDD’s US business to FXCM in 2014, when FXDD (alongside several other forex broker) decided to exit the US market and focus its efforts elsewhere.

The original NY Post article can be seen here.

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