New York authorities have charged 17 people involved in a ‘high-end’ Brooklyn escort service that made some $7 million over three years dealing sex and drugs to clients.
While some clients forked out $10,000 a night with High Class New York, one dropped an incredible $170,000 – though it is unclear what he received, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes
‘I’ve been informed that customers are all high-end customers, coming from the financial markets many of them, hedge fund people, people with nothing but money, willing to pay these enormous amounts of money for God knows what,’ Mr Hynes said.
The Sheepshead Bay-based escort service charged from $400 to $3,600 per hour for the girls.
An indictment of some 144 counts, owners Mikhail and Bronislava Yampolsky and their sons, Alexander and Jonathan have been charged, along with eleven managers and two large investors, Efim Gorelik and Yakov Maystrovich.
Charges include enterprise corruption, promoting prostitution, money laundering, and criminal sale of a controlled substance.
The women aged between 20 and 30, prosecutors said.
‘Because the enterprise sought an upscale clientels, all escorts had to submit photographs and complete a face-to-face interview to ensure they met high stanrds for appearance,’ Mr Hynes told the New York Post.
‘There were full-service options [of women]. There were Europeans, Americans, Australians and people of all races,’ Mr Hynes said. ‘No one Irish.’
Two escorts were separately charged with prostitution, criminal sale of a controlled substance and attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance.
No men have been charged by Mr Hynes said, ‘We’re considering that.’
The company advertised online on sites like Craigslist and Backpages.com along with in a number of media outlets, the DA said.
‘I’m a married man. I don’t want to think about it,’ Mr Hynes added.
To avoid being discovered, the company: ‘creating a series of dummy corporations with misleading names that conducted its financial transactions,’ Mr Hynes said.
They used codes, including calling prostitutes models, referring to their services as time and companionship only.’
‘They used discrete credit-card billing practices to help the johns conceal the true nature of the services on monthly billing statements,’ the prosecutor added.
‘They even went so far as to hire a law firm to draw up employment contracts for employees, particularly their prostitutes, containing bogus clauses forbidding sexual contact between models and clients.’
And the company sold drugs with the sex as well with asking for ‘champagne’ being code for cocaine.
‘Instead of paying 20 bucks for cocaine, they were paying 170 bucks,’ Mr Hynes said.
