A crew of brunette strippers targeting rich marks drugged the men, racked up huge jiggle joint bills on their credit cards and blackmailed them with compromising XXX photographs, officials said Wednesday.
Marsi Rosen is one of four dancers charged with conspiracy, grand larceny, assault and forgery.Photo: Facebook
The cunning quartet who worked as dancers, hostesses and bartenders at several gentlemens clubs trolled for marks in more sedate locations like hotel bars.
Accused ringleader Samantha Barbash, 40, or one of her minions slipped tranquilizing drugs in their drinks and then drove them to either Scores in Manhattan or RoadHouse NYC in Flushing, Queens, officials charged.
The men were ushered into private rooms and quickly stripped of their credit cards.
Barbash and her girls then ran up tens of thousands of dollars in charges and forged the signatures, officials said.
The tabs included lap dances, pricey magnums of champagne, multiple rounds of Patron tequila, and generous tips, said one law enforcement source.
Club workers apparently unaware the men were being scammed gave the women a cut of the proceeds, which is standard practice for bringing in big spenders, officials said.
In some cases, the victims had no memory of ever even being in the strip club, finding out about their crazy night only when the credit card bill came due, said the source.
Those who complained were threatened that racy photographs taken by the women later in the evening at hotel rooms would be posted online, said DEA spokeswoman Erin McKenzie-Mulvey.
Agents found a stash of additional blackmail photos when the women were arrested Tuesday and Wednesday, said one law enforcement source.
They include graphic images of men posing with both men and women.
There are other victims, judging from the photos we found, said the source.
Samantha Barbash and three other dancers were charged with conspiracy, grand larceny, assault and forgery.
The ring was busted when one victim contacted the DEA, and the agency set up a sting operation.
One of our agents posed as a wealthy man as part of the investigation, said McKenzie-Mulvey. Some of the defendants put synthetic cathinones, also known as Molly, into his drink as a way to make him unresponsive.
Other drugs used in the tranquilizing cocktails included ketamine and cocaine.
Barbash, of Little Neck, was busted along with Roselyn Keo, of Nanuet, Karina Pascucci, of Metuchen, NJ and Marsi Rosen, of Bayside, Queens.
Also arrested was Carmine Vitolo, 43, of Pomona, NY a manager at RoadHouse NYC who allegedly helped the women figure out how to run up bigger bills.
All off the suspected were freed on low bail after their arraignments and their lawyers denied the charges.
There are four known victims a hedge fund manager, a Wall Street banker, a real estate agent and a heart surgeon but the investigation is continuing and may unearth more marks.
The defendants were banking on the victims being too afraid to contact the police, said Bridget Brennan, the citys Special Narcotics Prosecutor. They made a miscalculation.
Additional reporting by Lia Eustachewich and Danika Fears.
