A crew of New York City strippers scammed wealthy men by spiking their drinks with illegal synthetic drugs, then driving them to strip clubs that ran up tens of thousands of dollars on their credit cards while they were too wasted to stop it, authorities said Wednesday.
A banker and a real estate attorney were among four victims who lost at least $200,000. None was identified by name in court papers.
Drug Enforcement Administration and New York Police Department investigators arrested four women — all described as professional strippers — earlier this week on charges including grand larceny, assault, forgery and conspiracy, according to authorities.
On Monday, agents and officers arrested four female adult entertainers identified by prosecutors as Samantha Barbash, Roselyn Keo, Karina Pascucci and Marsi Rosen. Carmine Vitolo, a manager at RoadHouse NYC Gentlemen’s Club in Flushing, Queens was arrested Wednesday morning.
Vitolo and one of the women pleaded not guilty to the charges in state court in Manhattan on Wednesday. The other three, including Barbash, the suspected ringleader, appeared in court Tuesday.
“He was shocked at the charges, he has no criminal record,” Vitolo’s attorney, Brian Packett, told 1010 WINS’ Carol D’Auria. “He looks forward to fighting.”
Barbash’s attorney, Stephen Murphy, said Wednesday that his client denies the charges. He declined to comment further.
Scheme to leave wealthy men drugged and scammed
Authorities said the roundup followed an undercover investigation that found that the women joined in a scheme to rip off the men by drugging them with methylone, commonly known as “molly,” or other drugs, including ketamine, after arranging to meet them at upscale bars in New York and Long Island. The impaired victims were driven to Scores in Manhattan and the RoadHouse, where they were charged for private rooms, expensive meals, drinks and other services, they said.
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