Initial Look at High Class NY Escort Case

Although the actual indictment by the New York Grand Jury is not yet available online, I took a closer look at the entire situation. Sometimes it is complicated to extract what is real and what is not from articles in mainstream media and often bloggers just copy parts of articles. We all know that frequently situations are twisted and misrepresented in media and I am guilty of having little trust in the system of injustice in the US, whether it is a state or federal case.

So far I find one major issue that stands out in the High Class NY case. Jonathan Yampolskaya, the step-son of Mikhail Yampolsky, was charged with “criminal possession of a controlled substance,” charged as a misdemeanor on June 3, 2011, by NYPD. In this case his attorney is listed as Legal Aid, but as of today no motions have been filed in the case. In the current indictment his “top charge” is a B Felony, stated as “Cscs-3rd: narcotic drug – cocaine”.

One of the investors, Yaklov Maystrovich, has the low bond of $5000, yet he is also charged with the B Felony “enterprise corruption” 10 counts of “money laundering,” a E Felony, and 1 count of “promoting prostitution,” a D Felony. I am somewhat puzzled as defendants with the same charges (like Bronislava Yampolsky) have a $75,000 bond.

Others charged in the case are Valerii Loboda, Oleg Lechko, Alexey Senenov, Pinia Ashkinadze, Yury Gorelik, Boris Ratovsky, Meredith Harford, Angelo Pascacello, Irina Pobukovsky, and Ilya Olshansky. Loboda also has that $5K bond, Lechko was released on his own recognizance even though he has a list of charges that include the B Felony “enterprise corruption,” Senenov doesn't show as having a filed case, Ashkinadze has the $5K bond as does Gorelik. Ratovsky also has the $5K bond, but is charged with more counts than most including drug charges. Harford has a $10K bond and a longer list of charges too. Pascacello has a lengthy list of counts and the $5K bond, Pobukovsky has a really lengthy list of charges and was released on her own recognizance, and Olshansky has a $5K bond.

According to the system, no one with a bond has posted it yet. This could be due to a delay in updates or they may all still be in jail and unable to post bond because of frozen funds. Really with the exception of the main four family members charged, all the bonds are low by any standard.

As to the clients involved in this case, I would bet that many will later be contacted by investigators. None should have been so ignorant as to use a credit card to pay for an escort, and especially after knowing that “discrete billing” was in place. There's no such thing as “discrete billing,” by the way, and this is a euphemism for credit card factoring in Florida, which is often charged as “money laundering,” as in this case.

The reason that I believe at least some of the clients may later be contacted is that I do not foresee quick guilty pleas for the main four family members in this case, or at least not three of them. That is not saying that I feel all or any will take it to trial, but I do feel that it will be some time and discovery later if there are plea deals. This case is not as plain as most articles paint it to be.

I also feel, from reading what is available, that there was an initial arrest or two that escalated this case. Yep – you read my mind – there is an informant or two involved.

I have also had time to reflect on the long ago argument / debate with some member of this group. I have no way of knowing who specifically chose to email and post anonymous comments on this blog back then, but they were not kind comments at all. In fact they were so rude, in a personal way, that I chose to delete them later. My final comment remains as posted under a March 2010 article. Maybe someone took heed and opted not to cross state lines, but clearly the credit card issues didn't stick. Regardless, I do not hold it against the person.

Even all other escort business information out there for sale advocates the acceptance of credit cards. I only know what I know from listening to my father (now deceased) back in 1995, and from watching what happened to others. Many disagree with me, but then I am the only escort service owner in the US to ever be acquitted on organized crime charges by a jury so I figure that I must know something about it all and leave it at that.

We shall see how this case unravels, but don't be surprised if it is more complicated than media has made it at this time.