US busts 5,500-dollar-an-hour prostitution ring !!!!

[Daanyeer]

Source: Yahoo/AFP
March 7, 2000 Author:

NEW YORK (AFP) - New York authorities have broken up an exclusive international ring of prostitutes charging up to 5,500 dollars an hour for their services, according to an indictment unveiled by prosecutors.

Four people alleged to have run the "Emperor's Club" were charged with conspiracy to violate federal prostitution statutes, while two of them were also charged with laundering more than one million dollars in illegal proceeds.

According to prosecutors, the ring operated in cities across the United States and in London and Paris, employing more than 50 prostitutes who charged clients fees ranging from 1,000 dollars to more than 5,500 dollars per hour.

The club even offered clients the option of paying with cash, credit card, wire transfer or money order, selling the prostitutes' services through a website that ranked each of them on a system of one to seven diamonds.

The four defendants face up to five years in jail on the prostitution charges and up to a further 20 years on the money laundering counts.