Howard Rubin Charged in 10-Count Sex Trafficking Indictment

Retired financier Howard Rubin, 70, was arrested Friday in Fairfield, Connecticut, and his former personal assistant Jennifer Powers, 45, was arrested in Texas on a 10-count federal indictment charging sex trafficking, transporting women across state lines for prostitution, and related counts, prosecutors said. Prosecutors allege Rubin and Powers recruited women—often former Playboy models—to fly to New York for paid BDSM encounters between about 2009 and 2019, and that Rubin converted a Manhattan penthouse into a soundproof “sex dungeon” stocked with BDSM equipment, including an electrocution device. Authorities say Rubin used force, fraud and coercion, ignored safe words, and inflicted lasting physical and psychological injuries, while Powers arranged travel and nondisclosure agreements and the pair spent more than $1 million to finance the operation. The indictment also accuses Rubin of bank fraud tied to misrepresentations when financing Powers’ mortgage and notes prior civil litigation in which women won a multimillion‑dollar judgment under the Trafficking Victim Protection Act. U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella and FBI officials urged additional victims to come forward and said wealth would not shield the defendants from prosecution; Rubin is due to be arraigned in Brooklyn federal court.