'It was the best job a girl in Manhattan could have': Former call girl reveals seedy life working for Manhattan Madam
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One of the girls who worked for the alleged 'Manhattan madam' has spoken out about life at the centre of the seedy business, describing it as 'the best job a girl in Manhattan could have'.
Speaking with the New York Daily News, the unidentified woman reveals a world of fishnet stockings, designer dresses and chatting about the weather with clients who were 'not that great'.
She added it 'breaks my heart' that Anna Gristina, the alleged mastermind of the prostitution ring, has been arrested as she was merely 'introducing consenting adults to each other'.
Questions: A woman who claims to have worked for alleged madam Anna Gristina, pictured at her court appearance last week, revealed she found Gristina on a website and worked for her for a year
The woman, a university graduate, said she was lured to the job by the hefty paychecks and short hours, and found Gristina's website asking for models after searching for work on the internet.
They met in a restaurant, and Gristina - a married mother of four now behind bars at Rikers Island - allegedly texted the woman whenever she had a client lined up, asking: 'Are you around?'
'She needed me to get there as fast as I could,' the former call girl said.
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ShareThe woman would wear fishnet stockings and designer dresses to meet men 'who weren't high-powered executives' in hotels for an hour or two.
They would make small talk for 20 minutes - discussing their jobs or the weather - before they had sex. She would earn $1,000 an hour which she would split halfway with Gristina, she said.
She met her clients in the now famous Manhattan apartment decked with 'cheap' furniture.
Scene: The unidentified woman, who worked for Gristina for a year, said she took most of her clients to an Upper East Side apartment (pictured) that had 'cheap' furniture
She told the Daily News: 'The life wasn't all glamorous. It makes me laugh to hear Anna's upper East Side brothel described as some sort of pleasure palace.'
Although the case of the 'Manhattan Madam' has pointed fingers at high-profile 'clients' such as former politician Eliot Spitzer, the woman claimed none of the men she worked with were notable.
'It breaks my heart that Anna is in prison. She was only introducing consenting adults to each other'
'I'm not saying they were poor or working-class guys, but they weren't high-powered executives - not that I knew of anyway,' she told the Daily News.
There were no expensive dinners or exotic trips, but the wealthiest clients would take her to five star hotels.
The men, who she assumed were married, held well-paying jobs in real estate or finance, but 'Anna's clients really weren't that great,' she said.
The woman also describes Gristina's role in the business, explaining that she saw her rarely.
'Ordinary men': The woman added that despite the implication of men such as politician Eliot Spitzer, pictured with his wife Silda, she did not meet any high-profile or 'superwealthy' clients in the job
She added that Jaynie Mae Baker - who has also been accused of helping Gristina's prostitution business - was nowhere to be seen on the job.
'It breaks my heart that Anna is in prison,' the woman said. 'She was only introducing consenting adults to each other... It was the best job a girl in Manhattan could have.'
Prosecutors say Gristina, 44, set up a rendezvous for rich clients for 15 years and was heard bragging that she had connections in law enforcement.
Gristina, a former real estate broker and mother of four, and co-defendant Jaynie Baker have pleaded not guilty to a single charge of promoting prostitution.
Their lawyers have said the two were working on starting a dating service, not selling sex.
The employee's tell-all comes after it emerged that three other people have been swept up in the case.
Accomplices: Jaynie Baker and Jonas Gayer are accused of helping Gristina's alleged prostitution business
Defence: Baker appeared in court on Tuesday with her attorney on a single charge of promoting prostitution
Two of the people arrested are alleged to have been high-class call girls, while the third is accused of helping alleged mastermind Anna Gristina launder money.
Those three arrests happened weeks ago - in one case, more than a year ago - but they became the latest sign of the scope of the case after the New York Post reported them on Friday.
'The life wasn't all glamorous. It makes me laugh to hear Anna's Upper East Side brothel described as some sort of pleasure palace'
The news came as investigators searched the office of Manhattan lawyer David Jaroslawicz connected to the suburban home where alleged madam Gristina lives.
The two women charged with prostitution, Mhairiangelo Bottone and Catherine DeVries, were arrested in recent weeks and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge.
Bottone and DeVries were released without bail after their lawyers said they were willing to meet with prosecutors, court records and transcripts show.
Bottone's lawyer, Carlos M. Carvajal, said her client was an interior designer who had met Gristina several years ago at a networking event Gristina hosted.
Raunchy: Gristina posing in explicit online pictures with her husband
She is 'suffering collateral damage from the larger investigation,' Mr Carvajal said. He said he hoped 'to get this resolved quickly for her' but declined to discuss any conversations she has had with prosecutors.
Meanwhile, it became clear that at least one person — the man accused of laundering money, named Jonas Gayer but identified in court papers only as John Doe — has been facing charges for two years or more, according to court records.
Gayer told the Post he did not know Gristina and Baker, and claimed he was Facebook friends with them through a common acquaintance.
Speaking from Rikers Island prison last week, Scottish-born Gristina said Baker worked for her as a legitimate matchmaker and is innocent of any crime.
Mother-of-four Gristina is accused of having made between $10million and $15million that she has 'squirreled away'.
She denies a single charge of promoting prostitution and believes the police are trying to force a case rather than having anything concrete on her.
Earlier this week, she told the Post: 'If I’m such a big, high-profile madam, making all this money, and they had to investigate me for five years, why did they arrest me on a single promoting-prostitution charge - and only after I refused to talk to them?'
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