The last big bust a few years ago (agency which can't be mentioned) resulted in zero fallout for any of their clients. And there were some big names rumored to be there.
An earlier post on this was taken down because it linked to a NY Times story. But please take a look at the Times article today on this. Most important is the amount of personal info (especially phone #s) the NYPD found on the computers confiscated in the busts. Just another reminder to be careful with your personal info and to use a burner phone.
I agree on the burner phone - if you're not using one it's just a matter of time before the wrong person has it. With all of these apps on smartphones there's no reason to use your native number in the hobby.
Keeping in mind that it isn't all "profit" ... let's say an average place has 2-3 girls on duty (on AVERAGE). 25 clients per 24 hours (on AVERAGE). Open 350 days per year. ... 25 x 350 is around 9000 visits per year. House fee is around 60 (hh) to 100 (h) = around 750,000. But expenses come out of that (rent, etc.) so maybe leaving 350,000 per year per location. I guess $1.4 million does seem kind of low, but expenses are probably higher than I estimated.
Or maybe the amount LAUNDERED comes from a different calculation.
All I know is, these are beautiful, friendly girls trying to earn some money to pursue a dream or to help their families while helping lonely guys relax and feel good. Nail the tax evaders and money launderers but decriminalize the main thing and you'll cut down on the tax cheats, too
been contacted or hassles or threatened as part of this investigation or any other?
I doubt it, since the only connection would be a call or text, which is not a crime. I think the tack of the investigation shows they are trying to act on financial crimes, and don't know that clients would be useful for this.
The last big bust a few years ago (agency which can't be mentioned) resulted in zero fallout for any of their clients. And there were some big names rumored to be there.
Local police in Stamford, Norwalk and upstate NY have raided AMPs, and rounded up customers and the girls, providing mug shots for the local papers. I've never heard of that being done in NYC.
This case is, of course, on the federal level and its just as much about intercepting international money laundering as it is about human trafficking. If they had wanted to make a prostitution charge against these places, it would have been like shooting fish in a barrel.
The NY Times article reports that the indictment says $1.4M was laundered since 2011 and the money used for promoting the businesses -- the indictment is probably referring to cash that they were able to track. "Retained capital" so to speak.
Just do the math and you'll see that the actual cash receipts of 6 midtown spas is easily many millions a year -- all it in cash and none of it taxed.