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N.Y.'S NUMBER 1 'HOOKER' BUSTED

By CHRIS WILSON and BRAD HAMILTON

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July 31, 2005 -- Cops have busted a $2,000- an-hour hooker dubbed "New York's No. 1 Escort" after she blabbed to the media about her prurient profession.

Natalia McLennan — who was splashed across the cover of New York magazine three weeks ago and has been interviewed on TV talk shows — was charged Wednesday with money laundering, prostitution and promoting prostitution, her lawyer, Barry Zone, told The Post.

Zone said his comely client's overexposure in the press led to her arrest Wednesday morning by vice cops armed with a search warrant at her Broome Street apartment.

"It's outrageous," he said.

"They pieced together basically quotes from all the articles about her and interviews that she's done. It's basically that they saw her on the Donny Deutsch show and the Paula Zahn show and they read the article in New York magazine.

"They have no person who has ever seen her perform an act of prostitution. It's insane. They've arrested her because of some newspaper articles and some sensationalism."

Zone said McLennan, 23, has since been released and has gone into hiding until her court date.

"She's obviously very troubled by this situation," he said. "She's just sort of lying low until we defend the case."

But McLennan, who claims she made $1.5 million a year servicing her high-roller clients, made no secret of her work at NY Confidential, a swanky, Moroccan- themed brothel on Worth Street.

She became infamous overnight when she struck a provocative pose for the cover of New York under the headline, "N.Y.'s No. 1 Escort."

She also copped to her line of work in an interview with The Post two months ago but claimed "I don't do that anymore" when asked if she was still working as a prostitute.

And in a yet-to-air documentary shot inside the randy lair and screened by The Post, McLennan reveals she had orgasms with the first several johns she serviced — not realizing that enjoying the encounters went against hooker etiquette.

The BBC is rumored to be interested in airing the footage as a reality series, using intimate scenes from digital recorders that were always running at the bawdy bordello. The New York magazine profile also chronicled the rise and fall of self-professed pimp Jason Itzler, and his love affair with McLennan, his top girl.

Itzler, who owned the NY Confidential escort agency, is currently in jail on Rikers Island while awaiting trial on prostitution, drug and money- laundering charges.

Itzler claimed NY Confidential raked in $500,000 a month during the year and a half he was in business, with clients that included hedge-fund titans, politicians, lawyers and even an NFL quarterback.

Despite her arrest, McLennan's lawyer claims her prostitution days are behind her.

"There was a time period when this existed," he said, "but she's not out there committing prostitution. She's certainly not doing anything wrong."

she on the 10 oclock news ch 5 tonight

As so many hobbyists and providers have lectured repeatedly on the boards: ladies, you gotta pay your taxes and give the feds their due.

I'm no lawyer, but I think the prostitution charge, while sounding sensational, is minor compared to the money laundering charge.

Remember Heidi Fleiss--her prison time stemmed from tax evasion and money laundering, not prostitution.

What on earth possessed Natalia to give all those interviews, when most of the rest of us would have lain low after Jason got arrested?

Was Jason manipulating her from his prison cell, encouraging her to stay in the spotlight for his own megalomania?

...goes on TV a week or two later talking about the same thing ...  This plan would probably work in a town where the DAs and the AUSAs couldn't read and weren't allowed to own televisions.  Anywhere else (say, New York), this stuff comes under the heading of "asking for it."  Stay tuned for the federal tax evasion indictment....