Feds link Rhinebeck woman to pricey prostitution ring Staff and wire reports
03/07/2008
FEDERAL prosecutors say a Northern Dutchess woman helped run a prostitution ring that charged its customers up to $5,500 an hour.
Tanya Hollander, 36, of Rhinebeck was one of four people named this week in a federal indictment against the organizers of a million-dollar international prostitution operation called Emperors Club VIP, said U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia.
Garcia said the Emperors Club, operating for at least the last three years, used a Web site to display photos of the prostitutes' bodies, with their faces hidden, along with hourly rates depending on whether the prostitutes were rated with one diamond, the lowest ranking, or seven diamonds, the highest.
A three-diamond prostitute would cost $1,000 per hour while a seven-diamond prostitute would charge $3,100, prosecutors said. The service's Icon Club allowed access to the most highly ranked prostitutes for $5,500 an hour, they said.
Authorities said Hollander and the three other defendants - Mark Brener, 62, and Cecil Suwal, 23, of Cliffside Park, N.J.; and Temeka Rachelle Lewis, 32, of Brooklyn - arranged connections between wealthy men and more than 50 prostitutes in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami, London and Paris.
All four suspects were arrested Thursday morning.
Brener, accused of being the leader and recruiter of the prostitutes, and Suwal, accused of controlling the operation's bank accounts, were charged with conspiracy to violate federal prostitution laws and conspiracy to launder more than $1 million in illicit proceeds.
Hollander and Lewis, accused of arranging meetings between prostitutes and clients, were charged with conspiracy to violate federal prostitution laws.
Hollander "took requests from clients and coordinated meetings with prostitutes over the telephone, and referred issues relating to payment to Suwal," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a prepared statement.
Hollander was not accused of laundering money.
If convicted, Hollander and Lewis face up to five years in federal prison. Brener and Suwal face up to 20 years behind bars.
All four suspects made initial court appearances on Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael H. Dolinger. No pleas were entered.
In a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, FBI agent Kenneth Hosey said clients were told they could pay with a wire transfer to the Emperors Club because it would show up on records as QAT Consulting to make it appear as a business transaction.
Much of the complaint traced how law-enforcement authorities learned about the business through tape-recorded telephone calls and text messages.
For instance, two of the defendants discussed on Feb. 7 that an Emperors Club client had complained that one of their prostitutes was "more sex than sexy," the document said.
Four days later, two of those charged exchanged text messages noting that the three-day rates for two prostitutes were $50,000 and $35,000, respectively, Hosey said.
In an affidavit submitted as part of a search warrant application, Hosey asked for permission to raid a Brooklyn location as part of a probe of the Emperors Club that began in October.
Hosey said the defendants had earned more than $1 million illegally through the business.
The agent said evidence collected during the probe included statements from a confidential source and an undercover officer, a review of more than 5,000 telephone calls and text messages and more than 6,000 e-mails along with bank records, travel and hotel records and surveillance.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Stein said a search of Brener's apartment produced $600,000 in cash and an Israeli passport. He asked that Brener be held without bail.
Brener's lawyer, Jennifer Brown, said her client was a U.S. citizen who had lived in the United States for 20 years. Nevertheless, the judge ordered him detained without bail.
Hollander and Lewis were released on $250,000 bail each.
Hollander's lawyer, Mary Mulligan, said her client "leads a quiet life." Lewis' lawyer, Daniel Gordon, declined to comment.
Suwal was not immediately able to post her $500,000 bail. Her lawyer, Daniel Parker, said she denies the charges.
The Emperors Club's Web site, www.emperorsclubvip.com, has been taken down since the arrests.