Retired US financier Howard Rubin, a former donor to the Conservative Party, has been arrested on sex-trafficking charges in the United States. The 67-year-old is accused of trafficking dozens of women, including former Playboy models, for sexual and physical assault in a soundproofed room in his New York City penthouse, referred to in court papers as 'The Dungeon'.
Rubin and his former personal assistant, Jennifer Powers, were charged in an indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court. Rubin was arrested at his rental home in Fairfield, Connecticut, while Powers was taken into custody at her home in Southlake, Texas. Both are expected to be arraigned shortly.
Prosecutors allege that between 2009 and 2019, Rubin and Powers recruited women, often those who were financially desperate or had suffered previous abuse, to fly to New York for sex acts in exchange for money. The women were encouraged to use drugs or alcohol and sometimes engaged in conduct beyond their consent, resulting in significant pain, bruises, and psychological trauma.
Rubin and Powers are said to have spent over $1 million of Rubin's money on recruiting women for commercial sex acts involving bondage and sadomasochism. From 2011 to 2017, encounters typically took place in a two-bedroom penthouse near Central Park, which contained 'The Dungeon'—a soundproofed red room with bondage equipment. Powers allegedly maintained the dungeon, recruited women, and managed complaints.
If convicted, Rubin and Powers face a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and a maximum of life. Rubin, who worked at firms including Merrill Lynch and Soros Fund Management, previously faced a civil sex-trafficking lawsuit in 2017, but a jury found him not liable. That case is under appeal.
