Wealthy Financier Lured Women to ‘Sex Dungeon,’ Subjected Them to ‘Unthinkable Physical Trauma’: Feds
Wealthy Financier Lured Women to ‘Sex Dungeon,’ Subjected Them to ‘Unthinkable Physical Trauma’: Feds
NEED TO KNOW
- Retired financier Howard Rubin and his former personal assistant Jennifer Powers are charged with sex trafficking and transporting women across state lines for commercial sex acts
- Rubin, 70, is accused of having participated in commercial sex acts with women, often former Playboy models, in luxury hotels in Manhattan, and then later in a luxury penthouse apartment deemed a “sex dungeon” by federal prosecutors
- The alleged victims, according to prosecutors, were forced to “endure unthinkable physical trauma”
A retired New York based financier was arrested on sex trafficking and prostitution charges in relation to violent alleged sex acts that prosecutors say treated women like “chattel.”
Howard Rubin, 70, is charged in a 10-count federal indictment accusing him and his assistant of luring women to luxury hotels in Manhattan, and then later to a penthouse apartment where one of the bedrooms was turned into a so-called “sex dungeon,” federal prosecutors said on Friday, Sept. 26.
The “dungeon” was “painted red, soundproofed and furnished with BDSM equipment to which women could be strapped and restrained; and contained devices to shock or electrocute them,” according to the 13-page indictment, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.
The alleged victims, according to prosecutors, were forced to “endure unthinkable physical trauma.”
“During many of these encounters, Rubin brutalized women’s bodies, causing them to fear for their safety and/or resulting in significant pain or injuries, which at times required women to seek medical attention,” prosecutors alleged.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Joseph Nocella, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, alleged Rubin “tortured women beyond their consent, causing lasting physical and/or psychological pain, and in some cases physical injuries.”
The alleged encounters occurred between 2009 and 2019.
Rubin and his former personal assistant Jennifer Powers, who is also facing charges for alleged sex trafficking and transporting women across state lines for commercial sex acts, is accused of having spent at least $1 million of Rubin’s wealth to “finance the commercial sexual torture of multiple women via a national trafficking network,” federal authorities said.
According to prosecutors, Rubin and Powers required the women to sign non-disclosure agreements. Rubin allegedly used the NDAs to threaten the women with legal consequences and public shaming if they decided to look for legal recourse, prosecutors said.
In addition to New York, Rubin is also accused of trafficking another woman in Las Vegas in 2018.
Rubin was arrested by FBI agents at his home in Fairfield, Conn. He is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn on Friday, Sept. 26. Powers, who was taken into custody in Texas, is scheduled to appear in court on Monday, Sept. 29.
Rubin’s high-flying three-decade career included stints at Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and Soros Fund Management, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Rubin’s attorney could not be reached for comment.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “NewsArticle”,
“headline”: “[article_title]”,
“datePublished”: “2025-09-26 19:00:00”,
“dateModified”: “2025-09-26 19:00:00”,
“author”: {
“@type”: “Organization”,
“name”: “{source_domain}”
},
“publisher”: {
“@type”: “Organization”,
“name”: “UAE Today News”,
“logo”: {
“@type”: “ImageObject”,
“url”: “https://uaetodaynews.com/logo.png”
}
},
“mainEntityOfPage”: {
“@type”: “WebPage”,
“@id”: “https://people.com/wealthy-financier-lured-women-to-sex-dungeon-unthinkable-trauma-feds-11819651”
},
“isBasedOn”: “https://people.com/wealthy-financier-lured-women-to-sex-dungeon-unthinkable-trauma-feds-11819651”
}
Source Notice:
This article is republished from
people.com
on 2025-09-26 19:00:00.
Content and views belong to the original publisher, not UAE Today News.
