New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft obliterated on Twitter after prostitution sting

[timosman]

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nfl/2019/02/22/robert-kraft-prostitution-sting/2950954002/


New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is in hot water after being charged with two misdemeanor counts of paying for sexual services at a day spa in Jupiter, Fla.

His alleged crimes, announced Friday, reportedly were caught on surveillance as part of a police sting in connection to an international human trafficking ring, police said.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odfogNo32W8

[jkr]

Puzee bad
Dik gud

[jkr]

But noooooo pizza...yet

[tommyrp12]

https://www.barstoolsports.com/boston/emergency-press-conference-mr-kraft-was-framed

[dannno]

Law enforcement should be focused on pizzagate, not this adult prostitution BS.

[acptulsa]

If they had found Gooddell there too, we'd know how the Patriots keep getting all those fuzzy referee ruling going their way in the playoffs.

[kahless]

Law enforcement should be focused on pizzagate, not this adult prostitution BS.

It is not simply prostitution. "Human trafficking" - the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labor, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation. This is where you would expect law enforcement to be focused. Although that is not really the John's fault unless they knew.

[dannno]

Is is not simply prostitution. "Human trafficking" - the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labor, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation. This is where you would expect law enforcement to be focused. Although that is not really the John's fault unless they knew.

A lot of what is considered "human trafficking" in this field are women who have chosen to come to the US to work in that field.. they aren't chained in a basement.

To the extent that any of them are forced, sure go ahead and prosecute.. but what leftists have created these days is this entire notion that because they are economically disadvantaged and from another country, they are being "forced" to choose to come to the US and become prostitutes.. thus they call it slavery just like the guy working at the burger joint for minimum wage is a slave to them.

The fact is there are plenty of women from third world countries happy to come here and make a decent living that way.

[dannno]

or commercial sexual exploitation.

LOL... "or"??? Please tell me you meant "and"....

"Commercial sexual exploitation" is just economic opportunities women have that men don't.

[Schifference]

It surprises me that a billionaire would be going into what I perceive as a low class place for a $70 sex tuneup.

[dannno]

It surprises me that a billionaire would be going into what I perceive as a low class place for a $70 sex tuneup.

It's a day spa not a massage parlor..

[enhanced_deficit]

Probably just coincidence but how often two high profile allies of GOP-Adelson/Israel are targetted in media headlines on same day under similar "sex trafficking" charges?



https://images.haarets.co.il/image/upload/w_1911,h_1109,x_115,y_162,c_crop,g_north_west/w_609,h_343,q_auto,c_fill,f_auto/fl_any_format.preserve_transparency.progressive:no ne/v1547050715/1.6826799.4202320641.jpg

Patriots Owner Bob Kraft Charged With Soliciting Prostitution... (https://deadspin.com/patriots-owner-bob-kraft-charged-with-soliciting-prosti-1832807440)
Bust on massage parlors in Florida... (https://www.tmz.com/2019/02/22/robert-kraft-named-in-prostitution-sting/)
Acts captured on surveillance video... (https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/2019/02/22/new-england-patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-soliciting-prostitution-florida-spa/2939429002/)
Denies... (https://miami.cbslocal.com/2019/02/22/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-florida-arrest-prostitution-ring-bust/)
REPORT: NOT BIGGEST NAME INVOLVED...

(https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/02/22/report-robert-kraft-is-not-the-biggest-name-involved-in-prostitution-case/)

https://www.drudgereport.com/i/logo9.gif





https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/130/590x/ivanka-trump-donald-trump-charlotteseville-842458.jpg

Trump’s labor Sec. broke federal law in sex offender Jeffrey Epstein plea deal, judge says
(http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?531805-Trump’s-labor-Sec-broke-federal-law-in-sex-offender-Jeffrey-Epstein-plea-deal-judge-says&)
Alexander Acosta — then a U.S. attorney — violated federal law in Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case

[Philhelm]

It surprises me that a billionaire would be going into what I perceive as a low class place for a $70 sex tuneup.

Maybe normal, beautiful women are boring to him, so he has to slum it up a bit to get his rocks off.

[Schifference]

It's a day spa not a massage parlor..

Regardless. To me it is like him going into McDonalds for a value meal. The guy could have the most luxurious service come to him.

[dannno]

Regardless. To me it is like him going into McDonalds for a value meal. The guy could have the most luxurious service come to him.

I knew a girl who was a massage therapist and was contacted about going to see Kevin Costner at his mansion.. she turned it down because they had indicated he was going to want more than a massage.

[kahless]

A lot of what is considered "human trafficking" in this field are women who have chosen to come to the US to work in that field.. they aren't chained in a basement.

To the extent that any of them are forced, sure go ahead and prosecute.. but what leftists have created these days is this entire notion that because they are economically disadvantaged and from another country, they are being "forced" to choose to come to the US and become prostitutes.. thus they call it slavery just like the guy working at the burger joint for minimum wage is a slave to them.

The fact is there are plenty of women from third world countries happy to come here and make a decent living that way.

You sure of that :rolleyes:

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/national/robert-kraft-new-england-patriots-owner-charged-as-a-john-in-human-trafficking-prostitution-investigation


Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey, whose agency has been involved in the investigation, told reporters earlier this week that the prostitutes are victims who have been trapped into the trade.

"These girls are there all day long, into the evening. They can't leave and they are performing sex acts," Currey said, according to TCPalm

[angelatc]

The best quips I've seen were paraphrased as follows.

1. The team is so good even the owner scores.

2. He found a good Chinese place that doesn't do take-out.

[Origanalist]

You sure of that :rolleyes:

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/national/robert-kraft-new-england-patriots-owner-charged-as-a-john-in-human-trafficking-prostitution-investigation

Cops never lie.

[dannno]

You sure of that :rolleyes:

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/national/robert-kraft-new-england-patriots-owner-charged-as-a-john-in-human-trafficking-prostitution-investigation

I'm not sure about anybody's situation, and certainly not the one described.. how could you be?


What does he mean they can't leave? I can't leave my work either, or I'll be fired. If they are fired, they might have to go back to their country of origin. Is that what that means? Or does it mean that if they leave, they will use physical restraint to keep them there?

[kahless]

I'm not sure about anybody's situation, and certainly not the one described.. how could you be?

What does he mean they can't leave? I can't leave my work either, or I'll be fired. If they are fired, they might have to go back to their country of origin. Is that what that means? Or does it mean that if they leave, they will use physical restraint to keep them there?

You really want to defend this, where is your moral compass - sense of right and wrong to your fellow human being or does exploiting others for your own economic opportunity take precedence over that?

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/indian-river-county/2019/02/21/human-trafficking-florida-massage-parlors-vero-beach-sebastian/2920354002/

"None were allowed to leave on their own."
...
Currey said many came from China on temporary work visas, indebted to the the brokers who helped them reach America, but believing legitimate jobs awaited them.
...
Others answered what they thought were legitimate ads for masseuse jobs, but soon were pressured into doing more.


Sounds like indentured servitude and deception. This is an industry known for taking advantage of the mentally ill, drug addicts, homeless, low IQ or whatever other problems, but you are going way out of your way here to defend them over the police and for economic advantages that men don't have. :rolleyes:

[Anti Globalist]

Not surprising one bit.

[Stratovarious]

I'm not sure about anybody's situation, and certainly not the one described.. how could you be?


What does he mean they can't leave? I can't leave my work either, or I'll be fired. If they are fired, they might have to go back to their country of origin. Is that what that means? Or does it mean that if they leave, they will use physical restraint to keep them there?

I agree, it just sells copy' , anything to do with sex is human trafficking these days, so
long as MSM and politicians can make a buck off it.
Meanwhile the real trafficking should be the focus.

[Stratovarious]

You really want to defend this, where is your moral compass - sense of right and wrong to your fellow human being or does exploiting others for your own economic opportunity take precedence over that?

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/indian-river-county/2019/02/21/human-trafficking-florida-massage-parlors-vero-beach-sebastian/2920354002/


Sounds like indentured servitude and deception. This is an industry known for taking advantage of the mentally ill, drug addicts, homeless, low IQ or whatever other problems, but you are going way out of your way here to defend them over the police and for economic advantages that men don't have. :rolleyes:

So , do you see prostitution as slavery, just because there are prostitutes , I'm not getting this.

[dannno]

You really want to defend this, where is your moral compass - sense of right and wrong to your fellow human being or does exploiting others for your own economic opportunity take precedence over that?

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/indian-river-county/2019/02/21/human-trafficking-florida-massage-parlors-vero-beach-sebastian/2920354002/


Sounds like indentured servitude and deception. This is an industry known for taking advantage of the mentally ill, drug addicts, homeless, low IQ or whatever other problems, but you are going way out of your way here to defend them over the police and for economic advantages that men don't have. :rolleyes:

You sound like a commie.. the only thing you are arguing for is taking away economic opportunity that some women choose (some don't, but that's a different story.. a LOT do..)

The men are probably half dead or about to jump off a roof working in some factory with horrible conditions.

It's called economic development. In our country, it happened in the late 1800s. It was horrible. Better than farming, but still horrible. But at the end of the tunnel, there was light.

Our country didn't have a place where women could escape off to and make a really good living because we were the first, so they just had to suffer.

[kahless]

So , do you see prostitution as slavery, just because there are prostitutes , I'm not getting this.

Read the thread exchange. Danno, says police should not have investigated. I pointed out that this was not simply prostitution.
That the police stated it was part of a human trafficking operation. Women being forced into indentured servitude and not allowed to leave. This goes against the non-aggression principle yet Danno continues to defend it and bash the police.

Repost. http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?531804-New-England-Patriots-owner-Robert-Kraft-obliterated-on-Twitter-after-prostitution-sting&p=6756826&viewfull=1#post6756826



https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/indian-river-county/2019/02/21/human-trafficking-florida-massage-parlors-vero-beach-sebastian/2920354002/
"None were allowed to leave on their own."
...
Currey said many came from China on temporary work visas, indebted to the the brokers who helped them reach America, but believing legitimate jobs awaited them.
...
Others answered what they thought were legitimate ads for masseuse jobs, but soon were pressured into doing more.


You really what to defend the traffickers enslaving and taking advantage of these women to?

[dannno]

Danno, says police should not have investigated.

Absolutely never said that..

I have no problem with investigating whether women are being enslaved.

What I have a problem with is assuming that EVERY woman from a foreign country who is here doing sex work is a sex slave. That is straight up bullshit, and that is exactly what is going on.




You really what to defend the traffickers enslaving and taking advantage of these women to?

What do you mean defend them? Like they are great people? God is going to let them into heaven? Or that they shouldn't be put in prison as long as the women consented to the arrangement?

[enhanced_deficit]

Law enforcement should be focused on pizzagate

In current bipartisan political climate, things have changed and pre-election movements like "lock her up" are completely dead. While not targetting the whole chain, they seem to be going after some slices of it that may make MAGA cabinet/GOP-Jarvanka etc look bad, going by latest news just out:

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?531805-Trump%92s-labor-Sec-broke-federal-law-in-sex-offender-Jeffrey-Epstein-plea-deal-judge-says&p=6756807&viewfull=1#post6756807

(http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?531805-Trump%92s-labor-Sec-broke-federal-law-in-sex-offender-Jeffrey-Epstein-plea-deal-judge-says&p=6756807&viewfull=1#post6756807)https://cf-images.us-east-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/5618154292001/a2d563e0-4393-4d85-a39f-b315fb7429ba/3c22e14b-7ccd-46bc-96f4-b781758e8ed9/1280x720/match/image.jpg
https://video-images.vice.com/articles/5c0055f0e71fe7000686df6a/lede/1544120376738-epstein-pizzagate-rage.jpeg

(http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?531805-Trump%92s-labor-Sec-broke-federal-law-in-sex-offender-Jeffrey-Epstein-plea-deal-judge-says&p=6756807&viewfull=1#post6756807)


But noooooo pizza...yet



https://static01.********/images/2019/02/23/sports/23kraft3/merlin_151063131_ceaf71c3-a2b1-4d48-ab02-3afbc8b7cf33-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale

By early Friday afternoon, the Orchids of Asia day spa had become an impromptu tourist attraction, drawing onlookers who peered into its darkened glass facade and pulled over in the strip mall parking lot to pose in front of the closed business. An orange sign posted by the town’s building department on the door and dated from Tuesday, titled, “DANGER,” warned that occupying the unit was prohibited.
...
“They looked malnourished,” he said of the women from Orchids of Asia. “One I even offered a slice of pizza to. She wouldn’t even say hi, wouldn’t even say thank you. Just kept her head down.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/sports/robert-kraft-jupiter-orchids-arrest.html

[kahless]

You sound like a commie.. the only thing you are arguing for is taking away economic opportunity that some women choose (some don't, but that's a different story.. a LOT do..)

The men are probably half dead or about to jump off a roof working in some factory with horrible conditions.

It's called economic development. In our country, it happened in the late 1800s. It was horrible. Better than farming, but still horrible. But at the end of the tunnel, there was light.

Our country didn't have a place where women could escape off to and make a really good living because we were the first, so they just had to suffer.

You quoted me but this was part of the quote. In context.

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/indian-river-county/2019/02/21/human-trafficking-florida-massage-parlors-vero-beach-sebastian/2920354002/

"None were allowed to leave on their own."
...
Currey said many came from China on temporary work visas, indebted to the the brokers who helped them reach America, but believing legitimate jobs awaited them.
...
Others answered what they thought were legitimate ads for masseuse jobs, but soon were pressured into doing more.


If my opposition to women being held against their will for human trafficking makes me a commie in your eyes then ok I am a commie then. I can live with that. :rolleyes:

It is none of my business or police business how other people live their lives as well as mutual agreements between two parties. But lets not kid ourselves here that prostitution is not an industry known for taking advantage of the mentally ill, drug addicts, homeless, low IQ or whatever other problems. It is soul crushing and further exacerbates problems these women already have.

If you cannot see that and think it is simply money being exchanged, no harm, no foul then there is no point continuing this discussion since we will continue disagree. But man, where is your sense of morality and care for your fellow human being not to see that.

[dannno]

You quoted me but this was part of the quote. In context.

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/indian-river-county/2019/02/21/human-trafficking-florida-massage-parlors-vero-beach-sebastian/2920354002/


If my opposition to women being held against their will for human trafficking makes me a commie in your eyes then ok I am a commie then. I can live with that. :rolleyes:

It is none of my business or police business how other people live their lives as well as mutual agreements between two parties. But lets not kid ourselves here that prostitution is not an industry known for taking advantage of the mentally ill, drug addicts, homeless, low IQ or whatever other problems. It is soul crushing and further exacerbates problems these women already have.

If you cannot that see that and think it is simply money being exchanged, no harm, no foul then there is no point continuing this discussion since we will continue disagree. But man, where is your sense of morality and care for your fellow human being not to see that.

Why can't you answer my fucking questions instead of putting a bunch of words in my mouth??

There are a lot of ways to work this out, but spouting a bunch of BS isn't getting us anywhere. You actually want to solve this shit? LISTEN.

I asked you if when they said "they can't leave" if that means they would be physically restrained if they left, or if it means they would get fired.. that is a really important distinction for which you don't have an answer. And even if you did, it wouldn't matter because this is just one situation.

Look, I'm all for setting up safety guards..

If a woman comes here on a visa thinking she is going to have a legitimate job, that is why they have visa applications!!!

She should sign the application, and the sponsor should sign the application. If she comes here and she is supposed to be a secretary but suddenly they are saying she has to suck dicks, then she should be able to go to the visa office, tell them that the job she came for wasn't available and they are making her do a job she doesn't want to do. Then the sponsor would be liable for footing the bill for her plane ride home.

What you are doing is supporting a bunch of bullshit that assumes any woman who is poor and from another country and choosing to do sex work is a sex slave..

[Brian4Liberty]

I, for one, will feel much safer with Kraft and his macaroni in jail.

[TER]

Law enforcement should be focused on pizzagate, not this adult prostitution BS.

All in good time...

[kahless]

What I have a problem with is assuming that EVERY woman from a foreign country who is here doing sex work is a sex slave. That is straight up bullshit, and that is exactly what is going on.

I never made that assumption. Actually in this case sex slave work appears to be going on if the police are correct.

[Origanalist]

Read the thread exchange. Danno, says police should not have investigated. I pointed out that this was not simply prostitution.
That the police stated it was part of a human trafficking operation. Women being forced into indentured servitude and not allowed to leave. This goes against the non-aggression principle yet Danno continues to defend it and bash the police.

Repost. http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?531804-New-England-Patriots-owner-Robert-Kraft-obliterated-on-Twitter-after-prostitution-sting&p=6756826&viewfull=1#post6756826



You really what to defend the traffickers enslaving and taking advantage of these women to?

Dude, you're just buying the bullshit fed to you by the cops and the media drooling at another sensationalist story. Do you have any idea how many witch hunts there have been down this ally? You don't know anything but what the usually lying cops are saying, and even then it's not all that convincing;


Currey said it was important for them to attack the people at the top, because many of the women are considered victims, trapped into a life of prostitution.

"These girls are there all day long, into the evening. They can't leave and they're performing sex acts," Currey said. "Some of them may tell us they're OK, but they're not. We know that… even though we may have charges on some of them, we'd rather them be victims."

How many times have stories like these turned out to be trumped up bullshit? And speaking of Trump, isn't he jumping on this bandwagon too?

[oyarde]

I knew a girl who was a massage therapist and was contacted about going to see Kevin Costner at his mansion.. she turned it down because they had indicated he was going to want more than a massage.

Ya I had to change it up I do not use Costner anymore .

[kahless]

Dude, you're just buying the bullshit fed to you by the cops and the media drooling at another sensationalist story. Do you have any idea how many witch hunts there have been down this ally? You don't know anything but what the usually lying cops are saying, and even then it's not all that convincing;

How many times have stories like these turned out to be trumped up bullshit? And speaking of Trump, isn't he jumping on this bandwagon too?

Well I think it is bullshit to leap to the assumption that the news media and the police are lying 100% of the time and the accused is automatically a wrongfully accused virtuous business man.

Pointing out the accusation from the police does not constitute that I am 100% buying it. Like we typically do in these forums we read an article and lean slightly in one direction based on what limited information we have been given. What has been given is the crime is trafficking, not simply prostitution. You cannot say if it is 100% false nor can I say the accusations are 100% true. Besides the accused must be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

[fcreature]

Consenting adults had sexual encounters? Am I really supposed to care about this?

[Origanalist]

Well I think it is bullshit to leap to the assumption that the news media and the police are lying 100% of the time and the accused is automatically a wrongfully accused virtuous business man.

Pointing out the accusation from the police does not constitute that I am 100% buying it. Like we typically do in these forums we read an article and lean slightly in one direction based on what limited information we have been given. What has been given is the crime is trafficking, not simply prostitution. You cannot say if it is 100% true nor can I say the accusations are 100% false. Besides the accused must be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Agree with the part in bold. And you may think it's bullshit but that is exactly what I do until I see irrefutable evidence to the contrary. It's what they do.

[Swordsmyth]

While the big news of the day was that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was been named as one of those involved in a prostitution sting in Florida, NBC News reported (https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/02/22/report-robert-kraft-is-not-the-biggest-name-involved-in-prostitution-case/)that he’s far from the only one named in the Orchids of Asia Spa bust, and may in fact "not be the most famous person involved."
According to ESPN, while Kraft's naming in the prostitution bust prompted shocked gasps - with many asking why a billionaire would resort to a $75/hour day spa to satisfy his basic urges - he is reportedly not the most famous person, as "there’s someone else whose name hasn’t surfaced yet who’s better known than Kraft."
“I’m also told that Robert Kraft is not the biggest name involved down there in South Florida,” Schefter said.
According to Schefter, another 175 names to be revealed, in addition to the 25 people already named in the police report with up to 200 names in total involved in the investigation.
https://zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/2019-02-22.png
"This is an investigation that has been going on for months," Schefter said.

“What I have been told is that there are other people involved. There are other names that will come out in this particular investigation,” Schefter added.
“We got 25 names today, there are 175 more names coming. Now some will just be regular people whose names we don’t know. But there could be other names that we do know, and that’s how it was explained to me,” Schefter said.
As reported earlier (https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-22/new-england-patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-soliciting-hookers), Robert Kraft was charged with soliciting a prostitute. He has categorically denied those charges and say they are untrue.”
Meanwhile, by its very location - Jupiter is one of the world's most exclusive zip codes with Tiger Woods living just a few miles away in a house which cost over $40 million back in 2006 - the list of clients virtually assures to be the "who's who" of high society.
Sure enough, shortly after the Kraft news broke, Bloomberg reported that Wall Street legend John Childs, whose name was not on the list released by Jupiter police, was also charged with solicitation of prostitution.


Childs, who of course is the founder of the iconic private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates, was among 165 people that were charged by the Vero Beach Police Department (https://www.vbpd.org/vbpd-blog/february-22nd-2019)in Florida as part of the multijurisdiction criminal investigation, according to the police website. His was among the photographs released by the department (https://www.vbpd.org/vbpd-blog/february-22nd-2019).
https://zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/jw%20childs%20vero%20beach.jpg
Childs, 77, hasn’t been arrested.
"I have received no contact by the police department about this charge,” he told Bloomberg in a telephone interview. Childs founded the Boston-based private-equity firm in 1995. The firm has invested about $3.7 billion of equity capital in more than 50 businesses. Childs has owned a home in Vero Beach for more than a decade, according to public records.
“The accusation of solicitation of prostitution is totally false. I have retained a lawyer” Childs said.
Vero Beach Police Public information Officer Bradley Kmetz said “we are working in conjunction with numerous jurisdictions and local agencies to try to arrest all subjects we have active charges on. We encourage people who have active arrest warrants to turn themselves in", although for some of the billionaires on the list that may be a generous, if unacceptable, offer.
And while there will hardly be any criminal consequences for Childs, his wife may have some plans to make his life rather complicated.
He is not the only one who will lose some sleep over the coming days. One other Wall Street icon who will wish he never heard the name of Orchids of Asia Spa, is John Havens, the former president and COO of Citigroup, who has also has been caught up in the prostitution bust.


More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-22/wall-street-legends-identified-florida-prostitution-sting

[Schifference]

Out of curiosity would it be illegal to go into a day spa and pay for a rub down? Payment for service. While getting service you strike up a conversation and find out it was fate that brought you together. You mutually decide you are infatuated with each other and the worker clocks out and closes her curtain. You have consensual relations with no money exchanged for said relations.

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

I'd guess somebody followed Kraft around to get a feather in his cap. Probably a tip from a little snitch who knows Kraft.

Combine that with sore losers in the Super Bowl, and this was bound to happen.

[kahless]

I'd guess somebody followed Kraft around to get a feather in his cap. Probably a tip from a little snitch who knows Kraft.

Combine that with sore losers in the Super Bowl, and this was bound to happen.

Looking more like he just happened to visit one out of the five places they were investigating.

Florida human trafficking case: Sex spas shut down in Martin are international businesses, investigator says
https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/martin-county/2019/02/22/human-trafficking-florida-sex-spas-tens-millions-dollars/2952861002/


Dougherty said federal agencies are involved in “tracking money from China into the United States and laundering it here and sending it back other places to be laundered.”

He noted about $3 million in asset forfeitures through bank accounts.

“As it goes up the line, they’re all owned by Toyota,” he said. “They’re sort of like franchises.”

“We’ve seen excessive amounts of money come into these bank accounts and move around, way, way, way, way more than you would ever imagine a spa of any sort,” he said. “We’re talking tens of millions of dollars.”

[Schifference]

While the big news of the day was that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was been named as one of those involved in a prostitution sting in Florida, NBC News reported (https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/02/22/report-robert-kraft-is-not-the-biggest-name-involved-in-prostitution-case/)that he’s far from the only one named in the Orchids of Asia Spa bust, and may in fact "not be the most famous person involved."
According to ESPN, while Kraft's naming in the prostitution bust prompted shocked gasps - with many asking why a billionaire would resort to a $75/hour day spa to satisfy his basic urges - he is reportedly not the most famous person, as "there’s someone else whose name hasn’t surfaced yet who’s better known than Kraft."
“I’m also told that Robert Kraft is not the biggest name involved down there in South Florida,” Schefter said.
According to Schefter, another 175 names to be revealed, in addition to the 25 people already named in the police report with up to 200 names in total involved in the investigation.
https://zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/2019-02-22.png
"This is an investigation that has been going on for months," Schefter said.

“What I have been told is that there are other people involved. There are other names that will come out in this particular investigation,” Schefter added.
“We got 25 names today, there are 175 more names coming. Now some will just be regular people whose names we don’t know. But there could be other names that we do know, and that’s how it was explained to me,” Schefter said.
As reported earlier (https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-22/new-england-patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-soliciting-hookers), Robert Kraft was charged with soliciting a prostitute. He has categorically denied those charges and say they are untrue.”
Meanwhile, by its very location - Jupiter is one of the world's most exclusive zip codes with Tiger Woods living just a few miles away in a house which cost over $40 million back in 2006 - the list of clients virtually assures to be the "who's who" of high society.
Sure enough, shortly after the Kraft news broke, Bloomberg reported that Wall Street legend John Childs, whose name was not on the list released by Jupiter police, was also charged with solicitation of prostitution.


Childs, who of course is the founder of the iconic private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates, was among 165 people that were charged by the Vero Beach Police Department (https://www.vbpd.org/vbpd-blog/february-22nd-2019)in Florida as part of the multijurisdiction criminal investigation, according to the police website. His was among the photographs released by the department (https://www.vbpd.org/vbpd-blog/february-22nd-2019).
https://zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/jw%20childs%20vero%20beach.jpg
Childs, 77, hasn’t been arrested.
"I have received no contact by the police department about this charge,” he told Bloomberg in a telephone interview. Childs founded the Boston-based private-equity firm in 1995. The firm has invested about $3.7 billion of equity capital in more than 50 businesses. Childs has owned a home in Vero Beach for more than a decade, according to public records.
“The accusation of solicitation of prostitution is totally false. I have retained a lawyer” Childs said.
Vero Beach Police Public information Officer Bradley Kmetz said “we are working in conjunction with numerous jurisdictions and local agencies to try to arrest all subjects we have active charges on. We encourage people who have active arrest warrants to turn themselves in", although for some of the billionaires on the list that may be a generous, if unacceptable, offer.
And while there will hardly be any criminal consequences for Childs, his wife may have some plans to make his life rather complicated.
He is not the only one who will lose some sleep over the coming days. One other Wall Street icon who will wish he never heard the name of Orchids of Asia Spa, is John Havens, the former president and COO of Citigroup, who has also has been caught up in the prostitution bust.


More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-22/wall-street-legends-identified-florida-prostitution-sting

Trump on the list?

[Brian4Liberty]

It surprises me that a billionaire would be going into what I perceive as a low class place for a $70 sex tuneup.


Maybe normal, beautiful women are boring to him, so he has to slum it up a bit to get his rocks off.

As a guy I know would say: “It’s a deal at twice the price!”

[Brian4Liberty]

While the big news of the day was that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was been named as one of those involved in a prostitution sting in Florida, NBC News reported (https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/02/22/report-robert-kraft-is-not-the-biggest-name-involved-in-prostitution-case/)that he’s far from the only one named in the Orchids of Asia Spa bust, and may in fact "not be the most famous person involved."
According to ESPN, while Kraft's naming in the prostitution bust prompted shocked gasps - with many asking why a billionaire would resort to a $75/hour day spa to satisfy his basic urges - he is reportedly not the most famous person, as "there’s someone else whose name hasn’t surfaced yet who’s better known than Kraft."
“I’m also told that Robert Kraft is not the biggest name involved down there in South Florida,” Schefter said.
According to Schefter, another 175 names to be revealed, in addition to the 25 people already named in the police report with up to 200 names in total involved in the investigation.
https://zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/2019-02-22.png
"This is an investigation that has been going on for months," Schefter said.

“What I have been told is that there are other people involved. There are other names that will come out in this particular investigation,” Schefter added.
“We got 25 names today, there are 175 more names coming. Now some will just be regular people whose names we don’t know. But there could be other names that we do know, and that’s how it was explained to me,” Schefter said.
As reported earlier (https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-22/new-england-patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-soliciting-hookers), Robert Kraft was charged with soliciting a prostitute. He has categorically denied those charges and say they are untrue.”
Meanwhile, by its very location - Jupiter is one of the world's most exclusive zip codes with Tiger Woods living just a few miles away in a house which cost over $40 million back in 2006 - the list of clients virtually assures to be the "who's who" of high society.
Sure enough, shortly after the Kraft news broke, Bloomberg reported that Wall Street legend John Childs, whose name was not on the list released by Jupiter police, was also charged with solicitation of prostitution.


Childs, who of course is the founder of the iconic private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates, was among 165 people that were charged by the Vero Beach Police Department (https://www.vbpd.org/vbpd-blog/february-22nd-2019)in Florida as part of the multijurisdiction criminal investigation, according to the police website. His was among the photographs released by the department (https://www.vbpd.org/vbpd-blog/february-22nd-2019).
https://zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/jw%20childs%20vero%20beach.jpg
Childs, 77, hasn’t been arrested.
"I have received no contact by the police department about this charge,” he told Bloomberg in a telephone interview. Childs founded the Boston-based private-equity firm in 1995. The firm has invested about $3.7 billion of equity capital in more than 50 businesses. Childs has owned a home in Vero Beach for more than a decade, according to public records.
“The accusation of solicitation of prostitution is totally false. I have retained a lawyer” Childs said.
Vero Beach Police Public information Officer Bradley Kmetz said “we are working in conjunction with numerous jurisdictions and local agencies to try to arrest all subjects we have active charges on. We encourage people who have active arrest warrants to turn themselves in", although for some of the billionaires on the list that may be a generous, if unacceptable, offer.
And while there will hardly be any criminal consequences for Childs, his wife may have some plans to make his life rather complicated.
He is not the only one who will lose some sleep over the coming days. One other Wall Street icon who will wish he never heard the name of Orchids of Asia Spa, is John Havens, the former president and COO of Citigroup, who has also has been caught up in the prostitution bust.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-22/wall-street-legends-identified-florida-prostitution-sting

Considering the recent Supreme Court case about excessive fines, what dollar value could be assigned to such public shaming, especially for a high profile person? Kraft has been all over the news all day. Is this a $1 million dollar equivalent penalty? $10 million? Half of his net worth in a divorce?

[Swordsmyth]

Considering the recent Supreme Court case about excessive fines, what dollar value could be assigned to such public shaming, especially for a high profile person? Kraft has been all over the news all day. Is this a $1 million dollar equivalent penalty? $10 million? Half of his net worth in a divorce?
Is it a fine though?
The government didn't get anything out of it.

[Brian4Liberty]

Is it a fine though?
The government didn't get anything out of it.

“Cruel and unusual punishment”?

Guess that’s what happens when you are a celebrity or high-profile.

[Swordsmyth]

“Cruel and unusual punishment”?
That sounds like a better argument.


Guess that’s what happens when you are a celebrity or high-profile.
And that would be the counter-argument.

[Swordsmyth]

President Trump said on Friday that he was “surprised” to learn New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a longtime friend of the president, had been charged with soliciting prostitution (https://sports.yahoo.com/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-arrested-prostitution-sting-florida-165838677.html), and emphasized that Kraft had denied he was involved in a crime.
“It’s very sad,” Trump said when asked about the charges by Yahoo News’ Hunter Walker inside the Oval Office. “I was very surprised to see it. He’s proclaimed his innocence totally. But I was very surprised to see it.”

A spokesperson for Kraft released a brief statement denying any wrongdoing: “We categorically deny that Mr. Kraft engaged in any illegal activity. Because it is a judicial matter, we will not be commenting further.”

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/denied-trump-surprised-patriots-owner-krafts-arrest-prostitution-probe-205008146.html

[enhanced_deficit]

President Trump said on Friday that he was “surprised” to learn New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a longtime friend of the president, had been charged with soliciting prostitution (https://sports.yahoo.com/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-arrested-prostitution-sting-florida-165838677.html), and emphasized that Kraft had denied he was involved in a crime.



This will not impact MAGA's chances for 2020 even if media tried to highlight this angle to malign his friends.

[Origanalist]

Homeland Security and Florida Cops Spied on Chinese Massage Workers for Months but Still Couldn't Find Evidence of Human Trafficking

By now, the idea that Florida police busted up an international sex slavery ring operating through Chinese massage parlors has firmly taken hold in the national narrative, even though most of the charges, including those levied at Patriots owner Robert Kraft, were misdemeanors for soliciting prostitution. A closer look at the arrests in this operation reveals just how shoddy the reporting on the case has been—and just how little the police statements on TV resemble what they've put in their actual reports.

No one in this case was arrested on suspicion of sex trafficking, forced labor, compelling prostitution, or any other charge that implies force, fraud, or coercion in the arrangement.

Of the workers we know of from police documents (including those who were arrested and those who weren't), all have official massage therapy licenses in good standing. The Asian-owned massage and spa businesses raided across four counties were also licensed and in good standing with the state of Florida.

Police from Vero Beach said in a press release that one woman had been arrested for human trafficking, and Florida news outlets are still running with that story. But a simple check of county court records shows that this is not the case. Like her colleagues, the woman is charged with engaging in prostitution herself, "deriving support" from prostitution, and "racketeering," which sounds serious but just means working with others to accomplish something illegal.

Mutually Trafficking Each Other?

All of the women who were arrested in these stings are being charged with prostitution themselves. They're also facing felony charges for participating in and earning money from each other's sex work. In this way, police have found a sort of loophole that allows them to bring felony charges against sex workers simply for working together.

Some of the women arrested were managers or owners at one of the 10 spas targeted, but others simply worked there themselves, giving massages and sometimes something extra, and occasionally accompanied their managers on errands like going to the store or bank. (Police suggest these instances of them traveling together could mean workers were victims who couldn't be let out of eyesight, and yet they also charge the workers with felony crimes for going along on these tasks.)

Not counting clients like Kraft, nine women and one man are currently facing charges in conjunction with these stings, which come from two separate but similar operations carried out simultaneously on Florida's southeast coast. One involved the participation of Homeland Security Investigations, the Vero Beach Police Department, and the Indian River Beach County Sherriff's Office, while the other included authorities from nearby Martin and Palm Beach counties.

The Palm Beach County and Martin County Stings

The Palm Beach/Martin operation has been getting the most attention, since it's the one that snagged Kraft. Some have extrapolated from his arrest to assume that all the customers at these massage parlors were rich, white men, and to insinuate that this is isolating them from more severe charges. But by all evidence, soliciting prostitution was the extent of their criminal conduct. And according to the arrest records, at least half of those arrested were men of color. Their listed occupations include an array of manual labor jobs, including "dog grooming," "mover," "roofer," and "painter."

more..https://reason.com/blog/2019/02/28/homeland-security-spied-on-chinese-women

[acptulsa]

Well I think it is bull$#@! to leap to the assumption that the news media and the police are lying 100% of the time and the accused is automatically a wrongfully accused virtuous business man.

Yeah, because calling out over the top police hyperbole is the same thing as calling the owner of the cheatingest NFL team 'virtuous'.

:rolleyes:

[Swordsmyth]

Another massage parlor operation busted and charged with human trafficking in Boston. (https://whdh.com/news/boston-woman-charged-in-connection-with-human-trafficking-operation/)

[Origanalist]

Another massage parlor operation busted and charged with human trafficking in Boston. (https://whdh.com/news/boston-woman-charged-in-connection-with-human-trafficking-operation/)

Well, there are some more people out of work.

"human trafficking"

[Schifference]

Getting charged or arrested is a live changing experience these days. So many charges. Unless you are connected or above the law you get ruined fast. There is no presumption of innocence. Lawyers cost a fortune and a person loses everything they have only to be advised to take a plea deal. Definitely do not want to get arrested. Does not matter if you were in another country from where and when the crime was committed. You still get charged with something and go broke in the process.

[specsaregood]

Getting charged or arrested is a live changing experience these days. So many charges. Unless you are connected or above the law you get ruined fast. There is no presumption of innocence. Lawyers cost a fortune and a person loses everything they have only to be advised to take a plea deal. Definitely do not want to get arrested. Does not matter if you were in another country from where and when the crime was committed. You still get charged with something and go broke in the process.

Speaking of which, this is some downright shoddy police work:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6762915/Indian-immigrant-47-arrested-case-mistaken-identity-prostitution-sting-got-Kraft.html


Married father-of-two, 47, was wrongly identified and arrested in the prostitution sting that netted Robert Kraft because cops thought he owned a Porsche spotted outside the spa

Charges have been dropped against a married dad-of-two who was mistakenly arrested in connection with the Florida sex spa prostitution sting case that netted Robert Kraft.

Sandipkumar Patel, 47, was detained on Monday in a case of mistaken identity and charged with structure of conveyance for prostitution and soliciting prostitution.
The Jensen Beach resident, who emigrated to the US from India, was wrongly identified as having visited the Florida Therapy Spa in Stuart on November 19, Sheriff's Lt. Mike Dougherty said.

On Friday, the charges against Patel were dropped in court papers. His lawyer - David Golden - had entered a not guilty plea for his client on Thursday, the TC Palm reports.

In an emailed statement, Golden asserted: 'Patel embodies all the good that the United States is supposed to represent.'

'He came from India to this "land of opportunity" and made Martin County his home. He became a U.S. Citizen, and lived the American Dream every day with his wife of 20 years, their two remarkable daughters, and close extended family.'

Golden described how the arrest has been devastating for his client.

'In a country that prides itself on constitutional protections and a presumption of innocence, the thought that he was branded, and called a "monster" by an institution he once held in high esteem is something he is tortured with every day,' Golden added.

According to Dougherty, the confusion stemmed from a four-door Porsche that was registered to a woman with the last name Patel.

It was also co-registered to a man, not named Patel, who was not the man seen on video going into the spa.
Officials began researching the car to see if Patel had a husband.

Investigators found Sandipkumar when looking up Patels in Martin County. They believed his license photo resembled the man seen in the video.
'It wasn't him that was in the Porsche,' Dougherty admitted. 'It was somebody else.'


He added that when the men were arrested, Sandipkumar Patel was the most convincing when he asserted that it wasn't him.

Investigators then had to go back and look to see who was actually in the spa, Dougherty added.

'We definitely know who the guy is, we're sure, but we are following through trying to figure out if we want to actually pursue that particular case or not because we already had one bad ID from it, which we acknowledge and we recognize,' he said.

Dougherty said investigators are 'extremely confident' that they have found the rest of the suspects
'We are double- and triple-checking it again and again just to make sure,' Dougherty said.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution in connection to the spa.
Kraft requested a non-jury trial, in which his fate would be determined solely by a judge.

'The defendant Robert Kraft hereby pleads not guilty to all charges and requests a non-jury trial in the above-styled cause,' read the court record, obtained by DailyMail.com.

An arraignment has been set for March 27, which is when the 77-year-old billionaire was expected to attend NFL owners meetings in Phoenix.
Kraft was among hundreds charged in a multi-department investigation into massage parlor prostitution and human trafficking at Florida spas.
Thus far, ten spas have been closed and several people, primarily women from China, have been charged with running the prostitution ring.

[Swordsmyth]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6762915/Indian-immigrant-47-arrested-case-mistaken-identity-prostitution-sting-got-Kraft.html

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution in connection to the spa.
Kraft requested a non-jury trial, in which his fate would be determined solely by a judge.


Kraft is a smart man, juries always presume you are guilty or the police wouldn't have arrested you.

[Schifference]

His defense will probably be that she solicited him.

[Swordsmyth]

While the big news of the day was that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was been named as one of those involved in a prostitution sting in Florida, NBC News reported (https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/02/22/report-robert-kraft-is-not-the-biggest-name-involved-in-prostitution-case/)that he’s far from the only one named in the Orchids of Asia Spa bust, and may in fact "not be the most famous person involved."
According to ESPN, while Kraft's naming in the prostitution bust prompted shocked gasps - with many asking why a billionaire would resort to a $75/hour day spa to satisfy his basic urges - he is reportedly not the most famous person, as "there’s someone else whose name hasn’t surfaced yet who’s better known than Kraft."
“I’m also told that Robert Kraft is not the biggest name involved down there in South Florida,” Schefter said.
According to Schefter, another 175 names to be revealed, in addition to the 25 people already named in the police report with up to 200 names in total involved in the investigation.
https://zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/2019-02-22.png
"This is an investigation that has been going on for months," Schefter said.
“What I have been told is that there are other people involved. There are other names that will come out in this particular investigation,” Schefter added.
“We got 25 names today, there are 175 more names coming. Now some will just be regular people whose names we don’t know. But there could be other names that we do know, and that’s how it was explained to me,” Schefter said.

As reported earlier (https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-22/new-england-patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-soliciting-hookers), Robert Kraft was charged with soliciting a prostitute. He has categorically denied those charges and say they are untrue.”
Meanwhile, by its very location - Jupiter is one of the world's most exclusive zip codes with Tiger Woods living just a few miles away in a house which cost over $40 million back in 2006 - the list of clients virtually assures to be the "who's who" of high society.
Sure enough, shortly after the Kraft news broke, Bloomberg reported that Wall Street legend John Childs, whose name was not on the list released by Jupiter police, was also charged with solicitation of prostitution.


Childs, who of course is the founder of the iconic private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates, was among 165 people that were charged by the Vero Beach Police Department (https://www.vbpd.org/vbpd-blog/february-22nd-2019)in Florida as part of the multijurisdiction criminal investigation, according to the police website. His was among the photographs released by the department (https://www.vbpd.org/vbpd-blog/february-22nd-2019).
https://zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/jw%20childs%20vero%20beach.jpg
Childs, 77, hasn’t been arrested.
"I have received no contact by the police department about this charge,” he told Bloomberg in a telephone interview. Childs founded the Boston-based private-equity firm in 1995. The firm has invested about $3.7 billion of equity capital in more than 50 businesses. Childs has owned a home in Vero Beach for more than a decade, according to public records.
“The accusation of solicitation of prostitution is totally false. I have retained a lawyer” Childs said.
Vero Beach Police Public information Officer Bradley Kmetz said “we are working in conjunction with numerous jurisdictions and local agencies to try to arrest all subjects we have active charges on. We encourage people who have active arrest warrants to turn themselves in", although for some of the billionaires on the list that may be a generous, if unacceptable, offer.
And while there will hardly be any criminal consequences for Childs, his wife may have some plans to make his life rather complicated.
He is not the only one who will lose some sleep over the coming days. One other Wall Street icon who will wish he never heard the name of Orchids of Asia Spa, is John Havens, the former president and COO of Citigroup, who has also has been caught up in the prostitution bust.


More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-22/wall-street-legends-identified-florida-prostitution-sting

John Childs: Billionaire Private Equity Firm Owner and Major Republican Donor Charged in the Florida Prostitution Sting (https://www.cryptogon.com/?p=54433)

[Swordsmyth]

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1103858009212682240

1103858009212682240

[timosman]

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/03/a-florida-massage-parlor-owner-has-been-selling-chinese-execs-access-to-trump-at-mar-a-lago/

Mother Jones :tears:


March 9, 2019

The strange, swampy saga of Trump donor Li Yang.

The latest Trump political donor to draw controversy is Li Yang, a 45-year-old Florida entrepreneur from China who founded a chain of spas and massage parlors that included the one where New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft was recently busted for soliciting prostitution. She made the news this week when the Miami Herald reported that last month she had attended a Super Bowl viewing party at Donald Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club and had snapped a selfie with the president during the event. Though Yang no longer owns the spa Kraft allegedly visited, the newspaper noted that other massage parlors her family runs have “gained a reputation for offering sexual services.” (She told the newspaper she has never violated the law.) Beyond this sordid tale, there is another angle to the strange story of Yang: She runs an investment business that has offered to sell Chinese clients access to Trump and his family. And a website for the business—which includes numerous photos of Yang and her purported clients hobnobbing at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Palm Beach—suggests she had some success in doing so.

Yang, who goes by Cindy, and her husband, Zubin Gong, started GY US Investments LLC in 2017. The company describes itself on its website, which is mostly in Chinese, as an “international business consulting firm that provides public relations services to assist businesses in America to establish and expand their brand image in the modern Chinese marketplace.” But the firm notes that its services also address clients looking to make high-level connections in the United States. On a page displaying a photo of Mar-a-Lago, Yang’s company says its “activities for clients” have included providing them “the opportunity to interact with the president, the [American] Minister of Commerce and other political figures.” The company boasts it has “arranged taking photos with the President” and suggests it can set up a “White House and Capitol Hill Dinner.” (The same day the Herald story about Yang broke, the website stopped functioning.)

The short bio of Yang on the website, identifying her as the founder and CEO of GY US Investments, shows her in a photo with Trump bearing his signature. It says she has been “settled in the United States for more than 20 years” and is a member of the “Presidential Fundraising Committee.” According to the Herald, Yang is a registered Republican, and since 2017 she and her relatives have donated more than $42,000 to a Trump political action committee and more than $16,000 to Trump’s campaign. Her Facebook page, which was taken offline on Friday, was loaded with photos of her posing with GOP notables: Donald Trump Jr., Rep. Matt Gaetz or Florida, Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, among others.

The GY US Investments website lists upcoming events at Mar-a-Lago at which Yang’s clients presumably can mingle with Trump or members of his family. This includes something called the International Leaders Elite Forum, where Trump’s sister, Elizabeth Trump Grau, will supposedly be the featured speaker. Attendees, the site says, will include “Chinese elites from various countries, including the US states, as well as elite leaders from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Australia, Europe and other countries and regions.” Another event for which Yang’s firm says it can provide access is Trump’s annual New Year’s celebration at Mar-a-Lago. Elsewhere on the website, the firm boasts that “GY Company arranged a number of guests to attend the 2019 New Year’s Eve dinner. All the guests took photos with” members of Trump’s family. This page displays photos of Chinese executives and a Chinese movie star with Donald Trump Jr., suggesting that these pics were arranged by the company, and also includes a photo of Yang with Elizabeth Trump Grau.

...


Archive.org has only one snapshot of GY US LLC website from 08/2018 - https://web.archive.org/web/20180827153942/https://gyusinvest.com/

[Swordsmyth]

Several weeks after America gasped in shocked amazement after prosecutors announced that some of the most wealthy and powerful people had been busted in a sting operation targeting a Jupiter, Florida strip mall spa where they paid about $70 for a rub and tug, and were charged with prostitution, on Tuesday Florida prosecutors offered to drop charges against New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and a number of other men - including several Wall Street legends (https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02-22/wall-street-legends-identified-florida-prostitution-sting)- charged with soliciting prostitution... but there is a catch.
As the WSJ reports (https://www.wsj.com/articles/florida-prosecutors-offer-to-drop-charges-against-patriots-owner-robert-kraft-11553014972), the settlement offered calls for the men to admit they would have been proven guilty at trial, in other words, unlike a typical SEC settlement where a party can get away with neither admitting nor denying guilt, in this case, the "johns" have to admit guilt.
https://zh-prod-1cc738ca-7d3b-4a72-b792-20bd8d8fa069.storage.googleapis.com/s3fs-public/inline-images/robert%20kraft.jpg
While the proposed deferred prosecution agreement calls for completion of an education course about prostitution, completion of 100 hours of community service, screening for sexually transmitted diseases and payment of some court costs, it also includes the unusual provision for the defendants to review the evidence in the case and agree that, if it were to go to trial, the state would be able to prove their guilt, a WSJ source said.
It isn’t clear whether Kraft and others would accept such a condition, especially since when the charges were announced, a spokesman for Mr. Kraft denied he engaged in illegal activity.
Perhaps the proposal is not that bizarre: a spokesman for the Florida attorney’s office said that it is the standard resolution for first-time offenders, or they go to trial.
While Kraft, whose Patriots won the Super Bowl in February, was one of more than two dozen men charged with solicitation last month in Jupiter as part of a multi-city investigation into multiple South Florida spas, and was charged with two counts of soliciting prostitution, acts prosecutors say were caught on video surveillance.
Kraft has pleaded not guilty.
Meanwhile, legal experts have raised questions about the tactics Jupiter, Fla., police used in obtaining search warrants for an investigation they said was intended to stop a growing human trafficking problem.
Here's why it is odd: prosecutors and law-enforcement officials described the investigation as a probe into human trafficking and portrayed the men who patronized the spas as contributing to the demand for sex slavery.


In announcing the charges, Dave Aronberg, the state attorney for Palm Beach County, had called human trafficking “evil in our midst,” echoing the rhetoric of law-enforcement officials. And yet, several weeks later, not one person has actually been charged with human trafficking. In fact, prosecutors’ affidavits have not detailed evidence of human trafficking at Orchids of Asia Day Spa.

“The police are making this case that this is a major human trafficking ring, and that’s why it’s so serious,” said Duncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor and managing partner of Tucker Levin, PLLC who is not connected to the case. “The fact that they had cameras installed in the locations for so long somewhat undermines the claim that there was an extraordinary danger to the people working in the establishment.”
As the WSJ further notes, the Jupiter Police Department began its investigation in October, according to affidavits and in January installed covert surveillance equipment.

Men who visited the spas, including Mr. Kraft, were seen engaging in sex acts and identified after their visits on traffic stops, according to court documents. Legal experts have said the traffic stops could be argued as pretextual.
Prosecutors alleged they saw Mr. Kraft, 77 years old, enter Orchids of Asia Day Spa, located in a small strip mall, on two occasions and saw him pay cash and receive sex acts, which while striking some as bizarre that a billionaire would frequent a low-grade strip mall rub and tug instead of hiring "perfect 10s", is hardly the pinnacles of crimes being conducted in US society in recent years. Regardless of the ethical framing, Kraft was identified in a traffic stop after his first visit on Jan. 19, when he was the passenger in a vehicle, and visited the spa again the next day, before the Patriots played the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-19/prosecutors-offer-drop-robert-kraft-prostitution-charges-theres-catch

[timosman]

Why do cops bother these people? :confused:

https://twitter.com/ENBrown/status/1108061015516897280

1108061015516897280

[Swordsmyth]

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who is accused of soliciting prostitution, will reportedly not accept a plea deal that would allow him to avoid jail time.
CNN, citing a source familiar with the case against Kraft, reported Wednesday that Kraft will reject the deal from Florida prosecutors, who have reportedly offered to drop the misdemeanor charges (https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/434751-florida-prosecutors-offer-to-drop-charges-against-robert-kraft) against him in exchange for paying a fine and completing an education course on prostitution as well as 100 hours of community service.

More at: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/434927-robert-kraft-will-not-accept-plea-deal-offered-by-prosecutors

[timosman]

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who is accused of soliciting prostitution, will reportedly not accept a plea deal that would allow him to avoid jail time.
CNN, citing a source familiar with the case against Kraft, reported Wednesday that Kraft will reject the deal from Florida prosecutors, who have reportedly offered to drop the misdemeanor charges (https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/434751-florida-prosecutors-offer-to-drop-charges-against-robert-kraft) against him in exchange for paying a fine and completing an education course on prostitution as well as 100 hours of community service.

More at: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/434927-robert-kraft-will-not-accept-plea-deal-offered-by-prosecutors

What a bunch of morons. They can't touch him. :D

[Swordsmyth]

Sheriff says he expects Robert Kraft Massage Parlor video will be made public (https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/21/sheriff-expects-robert-kraft-prostitution-video-would-be-released-to-public.html)

[Swordsmyth]

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/images/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by specsaregood http://www.ronpaulforums.com/images/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?p=6760419#post6760419)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...got-Kraft.html (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6762915/Indian-immigrant-47-arrested-case-mistaken-identity-prostitution-sting-got-Kraft.html)

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution in connection to the spa.
Kraft requested a non-jury trial, in which his fate would be determined solely by a judge.




Kraft is a smart man, juries always presume you are guilty or the police wouldn't have arrested you.

Robert Kraft’s lawyers request a jury trial (https://www.wcvb.com/article/arraignment-for-patriots-owner-robert-kraft-canceled-lawyers-request-jury-trial-in-florida-prostitution-case/26949784)


I hope they have a good reason.

[Swordsmyth]

The early reports regarding the solicitation of prostitution charges against Patriots owner Robert Kraft contained plenty of discussion regarding human trafficking, deliberately or inadvertently blurring the lines between two separate and distinct situations. Now, one of the law-enforcement officials who got the investigation rolling admits that there’s insufficient proof that human trafficking occurred.
“It looks like trafficking (https://www.wptv.com/news/local-news/martin-county/sneak-and-peek-warrants-unsealed-in-martin-county-spa-busts-deputies-posed-as-repair-persons-to-plant-hidden-cameras),” Martin County sheriff Willian Snyder told WPTV.com. “It feels like trafficking. It sounds like trafficking. I believe it is human trafficking. But we are just a little short to being able to prove that.”
That’s what Snyder says now. Here’s what he said in the aftermath of the charges becoming public: “It was clear to us that this was a trafficking case (https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/03/us/sex-trafficking-florida-investigation-robert-kraft/index.html) because of the circumstances I enumerated: They’re not leaving, they’re there 24 hours a day, the hygiene was minimal at best, just a bathroom. So we took it upon ourselves to not do what could be the easy way out . . . and we turned it into a trafficking case.”
So either Snyder was wrong about trafficking or he’s not sufficiently competent to harvest clear evidence of it. Regardless, the trafficking angle has gone from the centerpiece of the case to barely a footnote.


More at: https://sports.yahoo.com/sheriff-admits-insufficient-proof-human-233331745.html

[Swordsmyth]

Robert Kraft (https://theblast.com/tag/robert-kraft/) is going on the offensive in his prostitution solicitation case and demanding that the evidence in the case be tossed out because it was allegedly obtained illegally.
According to the documents filed Thursday and obtained by The Blast, the New England Patriots owner seeks to “supress video recordings that are the fruits of an unlawful sneak-and-peek search warrant.”
He claims officials used nefarious tactics to “spy” on the private rooms of a licensed spa while he received treatment from “licensed masseuses.”
Kraft also wants the evidence related to the “unlawful traffic stop” thrown out. As we previously reported, Kraft was pulled over by police and questioned after one of his visits to the Orchids of Asia massage parlor.
He claims “Florida resorted to the most drastic, invasive, indiscriminate spying conceivable by law enforcement.”

More at: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/robert-kraft-files-block-evidence-171403383.html

[Swordsmyth]

Florida Prosecutors Plan To Release Kraft Rub-And-Tug Video (https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-17/florida-prosecutors-plan-release-kraft-rub-and-tug-video)

[Swordsmyth]

Robert Kraft and his lawyers aren’t done fighting the release of surveillance videos from the New England Patriots owner’s trip to the Orchids of Asia Day Spa.
On Wednesday morning, prosecutors in Florida said they would make the tapes public (https://sports.yahoo.com/florida-prosecutors-will-release-surveillance-tape-of-robert-kraft-day-spa-visit-165549403.html). But Kraft wasn’t done with his legal battle. On Wednesday afternoon, Judge Joseph Marx issued a temporary protective order stopping the release of the video evidence, according to multiple reports including ESPN.com (http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/26546417/judge-temporarily-stops-kraft-video-release) and ABC News (https://abcnews.go.com/US/florida-prosecutors-set-release-police-surveillance-video-patriots/story?id=62461763).
The case itself, in which Kraft was charged with two counts of misdemeanor solicitation of prostitution for two trips to the spa in Florida in which he allegedly paid for sex, has had plenty of attention. But whether the public will ever get to see the video evidence from inside the spa has dominated the coverage lately.
Reports said Marx scheduled a hearing for April 29 to rule on the video evidence.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/temporary-protective-order-issued-to-stop-release-of-robert-kraft-spa-video-200852636.html

[Swordsmyth]

Robert Kraft (https://theblast.com/tag/robert-kraft/) is fighting Florida prosecutors after they announced an intention to release video featuring the New England Patriots owner receiving sexual services, but the footage is already being shopped to multiple media outlets.
The Blast was recently contacted by a party who claimed to have obtained portions of the actual video taken of Kraft from Orchids of Asia Day Spa & Massage Parlor (https://theblast.com/new-england-patriots-robert-kraft-prostitute/) in Jupiter, FL.
Representatives of our news operation viewed the footage, and upon watching, can verify the tape appears to show Kraft in the massage parlor with another person, presumably the massage therapist.
In the video, the 77-year-old is already undressed and laying on the massage table with his hands placed behind his head. The camera angle is an overhead shot, and it’s believed the camera was placed in the ceiling.
The video sample we were shown was only a portion of the videos collected by authorities, but it was enough to verify it’s legit.


More at: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/robert-kraft-naked-spa-video-070513900.html

[Swordsmyth]

https://twitter.com/NewsBreaking/status/1120410347020652550

1120410347020652550

[Swordsmyth]

A Florida judge has just cut Patriots owner Robert Kraft a huge break by ordering that a tape purportedly showing the septaugenarian franchise owner engaged in sex acts with massage parlor employees be sealed at least until the start of his trial on misdemeanor solicitation charges, or until a plea deal is reached.

Though, as the Palm Beach Post (https://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/20190423/judge-kraft-day-spa-video-to-be-released-after-case-resolved) reminds us, the tape could become part of the public record once Kraft's trial on two misdemeanor solicitation charges begins, or once the issue is resolved.
But for now, the videos will be sealed "to prevent a serious and imminent threat to the administration of justice," Judge Hanser wrote.

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-23/florida-judge-blocks-release-robert-kraft-sex-tape

[Swordsmyth]

The fight over Robert Kraft’s solicitation charge and the video of the New England Patriots owner in the now-infamous Orchids of Asia Day Spa just keeps getting uglier.
Palm Beach County prosecutors have filed a request for criminal contempt charges against two of Kraft’s lawyers over their courtroom conduct during a motion to suppress hearing on May 1, according to USA Today (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2019/05/07/robert-kraft-prosecutors-allege-misconduct-sex-spa/1133427001/).
The hearing in question reportedly dealt with the video captured by police of Kraft and other patrons inside Orchids of Asia that has been described as “basically pornography (https://sports.yahoo.com/florida-prosecutors-will-release-surveillance-tape-of-robert-kraft-day-spa-visit-165549403.html).” Judge Leonard Hanser is expected to rule on the admissibility of the video as evidence soon.
Why are prosecutors crying foul at Robert Kraft’s lawyers?The prosecutors’ complaint reportedly revolves around their claim that Kraft defense attorneys William Burck and Alex Spiro intentionally made a “false statement of fact” during an examination of police officer Scott Kimbark, who initially identified Kraft after he left the spa on Jan. 19.
Per the report, Kraft’s attorneys argued in court that police did not have probable cause to stop Kraft and questioned Kimbark if he had mentioned fabricating a story.
"Did you say, jokingly or not, that you would, 'make some [expletive] up?’" Spiro reportedly asked Kimbark.
Kimbark reportedly said he did “not remember specifically saying that.” Now, prosecutors are claiming that Kraft’s defense had no basis to ask that question:
Prosecutors wrote in the filing that “a review of the radio transmissions and the body worn camera video conclusively show that Officer Kimbark never made the inflammatory remark.”
“Both Attorneys Spiro and Burck represented to the Court that they had watched the body camera tape and heard this comment allegedly made during a previous stop,” the state attorney wrote in the filing. “Either the assertion that they had reviewed the tape was untrue, or their representation of what occurred during the tape was untrue.”
Burck reportedly told USA Today that the allegations were “ridiculous, false and laughable” and accused the prosecutors of an “amateur hour” attempt to intimidate their courtroom opponents. He also claimed to have evidence that Kimbark made the remark and would submit Wednesday with a full explanation.


More at: https://sports.yahoo.com/robert-kraft-patriots-hearing-massage-video-001029106.html

[Swordsmyth]

JUST IN: Judge blocks prosecutors from using video of Patriots owner Robert Kraft allegedly engaging in sex at a massage parlor – AP
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 13, 2019 (https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1128053550121091074?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

[timosman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV6Ahz5GWQc

[Swordsmyth]

A Florida appeals court ruled Wednesday that police violated the rights of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and others when they secretly video recorded them paying for massage parlor sex acts, barring the tapes’ use at trial and dealing a potentially deadly blow to their prosecution.

The state 4th District Court of Appeal ruled Kraft's rights were violated under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.

“The type of law enforcement surveillance utilized in these cases is extreme. While there will be situations which may warrant the use of the techniques at issue, the strict Fourth Amendment safeguards developed over the past few decades must be observed,” the judges ruled.

“To permit otherwise would yield unbridled discretion to agents of law enforcement and the government, the antithesis of the constitutional liberty of people to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures,” the court added.

Prosecutors will likely appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court, but if it stands the misdemeanor charges brought against Kraft and other customers would have to be dropped for lack of evidence. Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg had no immediate comment on the decision.


More at: https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/breaking/ct-patriots-robert-kraft-massage-case-20200819-qihxo3cvxrab7augsjgkdbactq-story.html