Millionaire Manhattan madam arrested after five-year investigation
- Boasted about making millions in her 15 years running the brothel
- Run from an upper Eastside apartment
- Prosecutors say she had a network of influential, wealthy contacts
A Manhattan Madam who ran an upper Eastside brothel was busted, after an intense five-year investigation, according to a court transcript.
Mom of four Anna Gristina, of Monroe, Orange County, bragged about having made millions of dollars running the brothel for 15 years.
Her illicit enterprise was run from an East 78th Street apartment, owned by a high-powered ‘lawyer friend’ who prosecutors claim helped her launder money.
Police arrested the 44-year-old while she was in a business meeting with a Morgan Stanley banker, described as a ‘close friend’, and who prosecutors believe she wanted to invest in an online start-up that would match prostitutes with wealthy men.
It followed an in-depth surveillance by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Official Corruption Unit that specializes in investigating NYPD officers and uniformed public servants involved in criminal conduct.
It was not immediately clear if the DA was eyeing charges against police or other officials.
Gristina, also known as Anna Scotland, is described in Department of Correction records as petite, blonde and green-eyed.
On February 22 she was indicated on a charge of promoting prostitution, along with a co-conspirator, and is now in Rikers Island jail.
She is being held on a $2 million bond having been deemed a flight risk because she has property in Canada, a British passport and network of wealthy male clients and associates worldwide.
Wealthy: The brothel was run from an East 78th Street apartment. Gristina ran the brothel for 15 years, making millions of dollars.
During the investigation, Gristina was recorded discussing how her law enforcement contacts were ‘poised to help her out, to let her know if there is trouble on the front that she needs to be concerned about, particularly back during the Eliot Spitzer investigation,’ Assistant District Attorney Charles Linehan said.
‘He’s basically locked money away for her should this ever happen so she will have money when she comes out of it.’
But it seems that the tipsters failed.
Prosecutors said the public corruption unit had nearly a hundred hours of audio and video surveillance that showed Gristina had been providing prostitutes — including some who were underage — to powerful men out of an Upper East Side apartment.
Source: Daily Mail
