Bergen woman nabbed in "diamond club" hooker ring Thursday,
March 6, 2008
Last Updated Thursday March 6, 2008, EST 6:47 PM
BY JASON TSAI
STAFF WRITER
A 23-year-old Cliffside Park woman ran the day-to-day operations of an international online call girl ring that charged $1,000 to $5,500 an hour, federal prosecutors said today.
Cecil Suwal was among four people charged with operating the Emperors Club VIP, which netted more than $1 million in profits the past few years, according to a federal complaint issued at U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Suwal, of Gorge Road, faces charges that she controlled the Emperors Club’s bank accounts, supervised at least two booking agents and took applications from prospective call girls.
Those arrested inlcuded Middlesex County resident Mark Brener, 62, whom authorities charged with being the leader of the ring that catered to clients in New York, Paris, London, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington, D.C.
Authorities said all four – including two booking agents, New York residents Temeka Rachelle Lewis, 32, and 36-year-old Tanya Hollander – were charged with conspiracy to violate federal prostitution statutes.
Suwal and Brener were additionally charged with conspiring to launder more than $1 million in profits, authorities said.
The Emperors Club advertised its services through a Web site that included photographs of the prostitutes’ bodies – their faces hidden – with hourly rates that were based on a ranking between one and seven diamonds, authorities said.
Three-diamond prostitutes charged $1,000 an hour while seven-diamond prostitutes charged $3,100, according to the Web site, which has been disabled. An "Icon Club" allowed access to the most highly ranked prostitutes at $5,500 an hour, authorities said.
The defendants were charged with conspiracy to violate federal prostitution laws. Two of those charged also were accused of conspiring to launder more than $1 million in illicit proceeds from the prostitution crimes.
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 to be a business transaction, FBI agent Kenneth Hosey said in the criminal complaint.
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 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.
E-mail: tsai@northjersey.com. This article contains material from The Associated Press.
A 23-year-old Cliffside Park woman ran the day-to-day operations of an international online call girl ring that charged $1,000 to $5,500 an hour, federal prosecutors said today.
Cecil Suwal was among four people charged with operating the Emperors Club VIP, which netted more than $1 million in profits the past few years, according to a federal complaint issued at U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Suwal, of Gorge Road, faces charges that she controlled the Emperors Club’s bank accounts, supervised at least two booking agents and took applications from prospective call girls.
Those arrested inlcuded Middlesex County resident Mark Brener, 62, whom authorities charged with being the leader of the ring that catered to clients in New York, Paris, London, Los Angeles, Miami and Washington, D.C.
Authorities said all four – including two booking agents, New York residents Temeka Rachelle Lewis, 32, and 36-year-old Tanya Hollander – were charged with conspiracy to violate federal prostitution statutes.
Suwal and Brener were additionally charged with conspiring to launder more than $1 million in profits, authorities said.
The Emperors Club advertised its services through a Web site that included photographs of the prostitutes’ bodies – their faces hidden – with hourly rates that were based on a ranking between one and seven diamonds, authorities said.
Three-diamond prostitutes charged $1,000 an hour while seven-diamond prostitutes charged $3,100, according to the Web site, which has been disabled. An "Icon Club" allowed access to the most highly ranked prostitutes at $5,500 an hour, authorities said.
The defendants were charged with conspiracy to violate federal prostitution laws. Two of those charged also were accused of conspiring to launder more than $1 million in illicit proceeds from the prostitution crimes.
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 to be a business transaction, FBI agent Kenneth Hosey said in the criminal complaint.
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 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.
E-mail: tsai@northjersey.com. This article contains material from The Associated Press. |
