FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The operators of FlawlessEscorts.com were arrested and their website seized, federal authorities said today.
Brandon Martin and Tameko Lindo were charged with money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with their ownership and operation of FlawlessEscorts, an online business offering prostitution services.
“In just under four years, these defendants are alleged to have secured more than 3,000 hotel bookings to use in the furtherance of their prostitution scheme,” said Angel Melendez, a special agent with the Homeland Security Investigations in New York.
The site operators allegedly required escorts to deposit the proceeds of their commercial sex acts into a number of corporate and personal bank accounts that they controlled.
They allegedly “used the proceeds of the prostitution scheme for personal gain and to further their illegal prostitution business," he said. "They paid, for example, over $180,000 from bank accounts under their control to advertise for the website and to pay expenses of individual escorts.”
“In this case, members of a Homeland Security Investigations task force were able to follow the money, tracking the advertising funds, payments and movement of dollars to locate the perpetrators, and they now face prosecutions for their actions,” he said.
According to the indictment, Martin and Lindo placed many of the advertisements on Eros.com to find new customers.
Martin and Lindo of Parkland, Fla., are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and two counts of money laundering, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
