Undercover feds bust crew of New York City strippers who scammed wealthy men by drugging them and then running up mega-bills on their credit cards.
Drug Enforcement Administration and New York Police Department investigators arrested four women – professional strippers – earlier this week on charges including grand larceny, assault and forgery, according to legal docs. Also booked was a strip club manager who surrendered to police.
Suspected ringleader Samantha Barbash appeared in court yesterday along with three other suspects in the alleged “tease-em’, dope ‘em and rip ‘em off” gang.
None of the wealthy victims who dropped more than $200K combined were named in the court papers but a New Jersey doctor, a banker, a hedge fund executive and a real estate attorney who lost at least $200,000 combined – was named in court papers.
Barbash's attorney, Stephen Murphy, told media his client denies the charges.
AP reported that the roundup of sexy suspects followed an special undercover investigation.
According to warrants, the the women schemed to rip off the men by drugging them with the stimulant methylone, akas "molly," and the horse tranquilizer ketamine after arranging to meet them at upscale strip clubs and bars in New York and Long Island.
Feds say the doped up vics were then driven to Scores in Manhattan and the RoadHouse in Queens, N.Y. where they were charged for private rooms, exorbitant meals, drinks and other services, they said.
The men later reported waking up in their cars or in hotel rooms with little or no memory of the sexy encounters of the criminal kind. Those who tried to argue the excessive strip club bills received texts from the strippers threatening to go public with their naughty doings, federal investigators charge.
"The defendants were banking on the victims being too afraid to contact the police, but as the indictment and arrests show, they made a serious miscalculation," Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan said.
