NY governor linked to prostitution ring (AP)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 3/10/08 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

NEW YORK - The New York Times is reporting that Gov. Eliot Spitzer has told senior advisers that he had been involved in a prostitution ring.

On its Web site, the newspaper cites an anonymous administration official as the source and says Spitzer was meeting with his top aides.

Spitzer officials wouldn't immediately comment on the story to The Associated Press. An announcement was scheduled for 2:15 p.m. at his Manhattan office.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From the NY Times article:

***************************EXCERPT************************

Mr. Spitzer gained national attention when he served as attorney general with his relentless pursuit of Wall Street wrongdoing. As attorney general, he also had prosecuted at least two prostitution rings as head of the state’s organized crime task force.

In one such case in 2004, Mr. Spitzer spoke with revulsion and anger after announcing the arrest of 16 people for operating a high-end prostitution ring out of Staten Island.

“”This was a sophisticated and lucrative operation with a multitiered management structure,” Mr. Spitzer said at the time. ”It was, however, nothing more than a prostitution ring.”

[NormsRevenge]

wiretapps.. O o .

why do dems hate electronic surveillance?

Exhibit A.. or should I say Exhibit Spitzer or Client 9. ;-)

[NormsRevenge]

Here’s hoping he turns into Prisoner 9. ;-)

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Not smart,...he should have used a local in Washington,...then the charges would be different,...by doing it the way he did...he violated the Mann Act?

***********************EXCERPT************************

Federal prosecutors rarely charge clients in prostitution cases, which are generally seen as state crimes. But the Mann Act, passed by Congress in 1910 to address prostitution, human trafficking and what was viewed at the time as immorality in general, makes it a crime to transport someone between states for the purpose of prostitution. The four defendants charged in the case unsealed last week were all charged with that crime, along with several others.

***********************************

He must have wanted his favorite .....to be with him at those special moments.....

[NormsRevenge]

Power corrupts, they says..

another update with comments from brief statement.

—

NY gov apologizes, but quiet on scandal
AMY WESTFELDT, Associated Press Writer

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080310/ap_on_re_us/spitzer_prostitution

NEW YORK - Gov. Eliot Spitzer apologized to his family and the public on Monday, but did not not elaborate on a bombshell report that he has been involved in a prostitution ring.

“I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family ... my sense of right and wrong,” he said at a news conference at his Manhattan office. “I must now dedicate some time to rededicate my trust to my family.”

Spitzer’s wife stood at his side, her hands behind her back and her eyes cast downward, as he made the statement.

The New York Times reported that a person with knowledge of the governor’s role believes the governor is identified as a client in court papers. Four people allegedly connected to a high-end prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP were arrested last week.

The Web site of the Emperors Club VIP displays photographs of scantily clad women with their faces hidden. It also shows hourly rates depending on whether the prostitutes were rated with one diamond, the lowest ranking, or seven diamonds, the highest. The most highly ranked prostitutes cost $5,500 an hour, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the defendants arranged connections between wealthy men and more than 50 prostitutes in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami, London and Paris.

The Times reported that the governor’s travel records show he was in Washington in mid-February, and that one of the clients arranged to meet with a prostitute on the night of Feb. 13.

The case is being handled by prosecutors in the Public Corruption unit of U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia’s office. Garcia spokeswoman Yusill Scribner said the office had no comment.

Spitzer, 48, built his political legacy on rooting out corruption, including several headline-making battles with Wall Street while serving as attorney general. He stormed into the governor’s office in 2006 with a historic share of the vote, vowing to continue his no-nonsense approach to fixing one of the nation’s worst governments.

Time magazine had named him “Crusader of the Year” when he was attorney general and the tabloids proclaimed him “Eliot Ness.”

But his stint as governor has been marred by several problems, including an unpopular plan to grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants and a plot by his aides to smear Spitzer’s main Republican nemesis.

Spitzer had been expected to testify to the state Public Integrity Commission he had created to answer for his role in the scandal, in which his aides were accused of misusing state police to compile travel records to embarrass Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno.

Spitzer had served two terms as attorney general where he pursued criminal and civil cases and cracked down on misconduct and conflicts of interests on Wall Street and in corporate America. He had previously been a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, handling organized crime and white-collar crime cases.

His cases as state attorney general included a few criminal prosecutions of prostitution rings and into tourism involving prostitutes.

In 2004, he was part of an investigation of an escort service in New York City that resulted in the arrest of 18 people on charges of promoting prostitution and related charges.

___

Associated Press Writer Mike Gormley contributed to this report from Albany, N.Y.

[Robwin]

“The Web site of the Emperors Club VIP displays photographs of scantily clad women 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. The most highly ranked prostitutes cost $5,500 an hour, prosecutors said.”

The website is currently down due to high traffic (or so they say). I just gotta see a prostitute who is worth $5,500.

As to Spitzer:good riddance.

[SE Mom]

Sooooo...will he use an illegal driver’s license to getouttatown?

[rfp1234]

But did he tap his foot in a public john, send dirty IMs, or use obscure primate slurs? THOSE would be real scandals. [/s]

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Emperors Club Vip — Blogs, Pictures, and more on WordPress

Find other items tagged with “emperors-club-vip”:. Technorati Del.icio.us IceRocket · Terms of Service · Privacy · Support · Stats ...
wordpress.com/tag/emperors-club-vip/8. High End Prostitution Ring Busted. (UPDATED ON MARCH 10, 2008!)

Emperors Club VIP charged dudes $5,500 per hour to have sex with the nice looking ladies. They got busted. Their website is down but the Gothamist claims this site is related. I make no such claim, that’s slanderous. It is merely a coincidence that these two sites are … “exceptionally similar.”

[jmaroneps37]

For those not in New York consider this, BOTH Republicans AND Democrats in elected office in Albany hate spitzer. The ratmedia will try to smother this and i hope they do because the longer it takes for this to be over, the better. Our Lt. Gov. is a physically repulsive looking blind Black man who will do Barack McGovern Obama no good at all as they travel NYS campaigning. This will also save the NYS Senate for the GOP and thew citizens of NYS.
Finally, the best part: This piece of shiite was just about to ram through a bill that would make it illegal for a Catholic hospital to turn away abortion seekers. True facts!!!!!!!!!

spitzer would have been better off if he was gay and got caught in Bar-nay Frank’s house doing the horrizontal mombo with a teenaged boy.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

March 7, 2008
International Escort Ring Busted by Feds

******************************

A man and three women were arrested by the feds for overseeing an intercontinental prostitution ring catering to the upper crust of New York, Miami, LA, and Europe.

The women pictured on the Emperor's Club V.I.P. web site, now taken down, had their faces blurred but featured body shots alongside a one to seven diamond ranking system. Chintzy customers willing to go low-end could get a three-diamond lady for $1,000 an hour; seven-diamond pros cost $5,500 an hour and would be flown around the world. According to The New York Sun, the company also offered "investment services and deals on contemporary art."

The arrestees are Mark Brener, 62, and Cecil Suwal, 23, who live together in Cliffside Park, N.J.; Brener is the alleged mastermind while Suwal was the banker. Brooklyn resident Temeka Rachelle Lewis, 32, and Tanya Hollander, 36, of Rhinebeck, N.Y. were the alleged booking agents who assigned women to clients around the city and the world.

There is still an online site for Emperors Club Spokes Models, offering the professional talents of women in the same cities as the prostitution ring. There's no indication the women featured on the model site are prostitutes, although the logos of the two companies are highly similar.

[counterpunch]

“We sought to bring real change to New York.”

This is what “change” looks like from Democrats.

[NormsRevenge]

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer addresses the media at his office in New York, March 10, 2008. Spitzer apologized to his family for a "private matter" on Monday but made no reference to a New York Times report that he may have been linked to a prostitution ring. "I failed to live up to the standards I set up to myself. Now I stand to regain the trust of my family," Spitzer told a packed room of reporters in New York City. He said nothing about possibly resigning. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES)

[FlipWilson]

Nothing to see here, please move on to the Republican Culture of Corruption. ONLY REPUBLICANS are capable of CORRUPTION, that is what Nancy P. tells me so it must be so.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

NY SUn article:

High-End Prostitution Ring Broken, Police Say; 4 Arrested
March 7, 2008

**************************EXCERPTS***************************

Court documents unsealed yesterday said Emperors Club involved 50 prostitutes who billed between $1,000 and $5,500 an hour. Several phone numbers associated with Emperors Club have been under surveillance by the FBI, which intercepted more than 5,000 telephone calls and text messages during the investigation, according to court documents.

Excerpts of those intercepted calls, provided in court documents, offer a window onto some of the managerial challenges that confronted the four defendants who allegedly managed the operation. In them, the managers discuss how some of the Emperor Club prostitutes had difficulty taking imprints of their clients' American Express cards, making it difficult to charge them. Prostitutes weren't always punctual in arriving at their engagements. There were scheduling conflicts to resolve caused by the photo shoots of the women who modeled during the day. And clients called in wanting to know what they should tell their accountants about the expenses they were racking up with the Emperors Club.

*******************************

ROFL!......

[kalee]

“involved”
In what way?!? Bet his wife is asking the same question.

[kalee]

Wonder what religion he and his family are?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

More from the Sun article;

**********************EXCERPT**********************

The Emperors Club had prostitutes in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, London, and Paris, and would send them to meet men as far away as Vienna, the complaint alleges.

***********************************

But not in Washington.................??????

[NormsRevenge]

clients called in wanting to know what they should tell their accountants about the expenses they were racking up with the Emperors Club.

—

lol

[NormsRevenge]

another update..

—

Official: NY gov caught on wiretap
AMY WESTFELDT, Associated Press Writer
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080310/ap_on_re_us/spitzer_prostitution

NEW YORK - A law enforcement official has told The Associated Press that New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s involvement in a prostitution ring was caught on a federal wiretap.

The official says Spitzer is identified in court papers as “Client 9,” and the wiretap was part of an investigation that opened in the last few months.

The official says the New York governor met last month with at least one woman in a Washington hotel. The law enforcement official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

NEW YORK (AP) — Gov. Eliot Spitzer, accused in news reports of being involved in a prostitution ring, apologized to his family and the public on Monday at a hastily called news conference. He did not elaborate on the story.

With his wife at his side, Spitzer told reporters that he “acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family.”

“I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself,” he said. “I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family.”

The New York Times reported earlier in the day that Spitzer told senior administration officials that he was linked to a prostitiution ring. The report cited an anonymous administration official.

The Times reported that a person with knowledge of the governor’s role believes the governor is identified in court papers as a client of a prostitution ring. Four people allegedly connected to a high-end ring called the Emperors Club VIP were arrested last week.

The Web site of the Emperors Club VIP displays photographs of scantily clad women with their faces hidden. It also shows hourly rates depending on whether the prostitutes were rated with one diamond, the lowest ranking, or seven diamonds, the highest. The most highly ranked prostitutes cost $5,500 an hour, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the defendants arranged connections between wealthy men and more than 50 prostitutes in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami, London and Paris.

The Times reported that the governor’s travel records show he was in Washington in mid-February, and that one of the clients arranged to meet with a prostitute on the night of Feb. 13.

The case is being handled by prosecutors in the Public Corruption unit of U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia’s office. Garcia spokeswoman Yusill Scribner said the office had no comment.

Around a stunned state Capitol in Albany, lawmakers and staff huddled around televisions to see the news conference. A media mob gathered outside the office of Lt. Gov. David Paterson, who would become governor if Spitzer was to resign.

Spitzer, 48, built his political reputation on rooting out corruption, including several headline-making battles with Wall Street while serving as attorney general. He stormed into the governor’s office in 2006 with a historic share of the vote, vowing to continue his no-nonsense approach to fixing one of the nation’s worst governments.

Time magazine had named him “Crusader of the Year” when he was attorney general and the tabloids proclaimed him “Eliot Ness.”

But his stint as governor has been marred by several problems, including an unpopular plan to grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants and a plot by his aides to smear Spitzer’s main Republican nemesis.

Spitzer had been expected to testify to the state Public Integrity Commission he had created to answer for his role in the scandal, in which his aides were accused of misusing state police to compile travel records to embarrass Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno.

Spitzer had served two terms as attorney general where he pursued criminal and civil cases and cracked down on misconduct and conflicts of interests on Wall Street and in corporate America. He had previously been a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, handling organized crime and white-collar crime cases.

His cases as state attorney general included a few criminal prosecutions of prostitution rings and into tourism involving prostitutes.

In 2004, he was part of an investigation of an escort service in New York City that resulted in the arrest of 18 people on charges of promoting prostitution and related charges.