ICE raids NYC club.
shadowcat
Atlanta suburb
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Federal authorities raided a Midtown strip club today, saying it is the center of global scheme bringing women into the United States to force them to become strippers.
Federal authorities raided Cheetah's strip club in Times Square. Agents with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement arrested several alleged ringleaders of the scheme, which was dubbed “Operation Dancing Brides.â€
The men allegedly brought women from Russia and Eastern Europe into the U.S. They'd allegedly pay American men to marry the women on paper and then force the women to work as strippers in various spots citywide.
According to officials, 20 people face charges related the scheme. The charges run the gamut from racketeering, extortion, immigration violations – even marriage fraud. The operation was run by the Gambino and Bonnano crime families, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported.
“Today's arrests bring to an end a long-standing criminal enterprise operated by colluding organized crime entities that profited wildly through a combination of extortion and fraud,†said ICE HSI Special Agent-in-Charge James T. Hayes, Jr. “As alleged, the defendants controlled their business and protected their turf through intimidation and threats of physical and economic harm. Today, that business model has been extinguished.
Federal authorities raided Cheetah's strip club in Times Square. Agents with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement arrested several alleged ringleaders of the scheme, which was dubbed “Operation Dancing Brides.â€
The men allegedly brought women from Russia and Eastern Europe into the U.S. They'd allegedly pay American men to marry the women on paper and then force the women to work as strippers in various spots citywide.
According to officials, 20 people face charges related the scheme. The charges run the gamut from racketeering, extortion, immigration violations – even marriage fraud. The operation was run by the Gambino and Bonnano crime families, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported.
“Today's arrests bring to an end a long-standing criminal enterprise operated by colluding organized crime entities that profited wildly through a combination of extortion and fraud,†said ICE HSI Special Agent-in-Charge James T. Hayes, Jr. “As alleged, the defendants controlled their business and protected their turf through intimidation and threats of physical and economic harm. Today, that business model has been extinguished.
25 comments
This is why I almost prefer OTC. At least I know this beautiful creature is gettting the cash and not some mobbed up asshole or club owner.
The one additional point that I will add is that many of these Russian girls are well educated. In fact, many of them attended university in Russia, which allowed them to come over here on student visas under the guise of continuing their studies. Heck, just three nights ago I enjoyed time with a Russian girl who speaks 8 different languages and, last week, I dealt with another Russian girl who has traveled all over the world and was regaling me with tales of Tel Aviv.
In a nutshell, these Russian girls are not unsophisticated, barely literate immigrants who are being exploited because they do not know any better. Further, most of them are certainly not whores and their "bosses" are most definitely not pushing them to do things that they are not comfortable with.
They use their own form of an agency system whereby transportation (usually from Brooklyn) is included. The agency system is usually club-specific. If a girl wants to switch to another club, she coordinates with whoever the "boss" is for that club. If she doesn't like what she hears, she can stay at her existing club or find yet another option.
It is interesting to note that they are now planning to press charges against some of these supposed "trafficked" girls. If these girls were really "victims" then why are they being charged with crimes? ;)
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?sectio…
Simply put, there is no comparison between these girls and the forced prostitution situations that one sometimes sees with uneducated Asian or Latin American girls. Trust me, NY/CT is my home turf and I talk to a lot of these girls.
"These girls were not sex slaves. The whole thing was bullshit."
Oh, but it HAS to be true. I think Stabler and Liv had a similar case on SVU
Motorhead: Yeah, because no woman would ever *willingly* have sex in exchange for money or other compensation. It's just...impossible!
<a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mob_b…
Or copy and paste this if the link doesn't work:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/mob_b…
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/11/30/f…