Five Miami people were arrested in a multi-million dollar, multi-state prostitution ring that sent escorts throughout the country, federal officials said.
The group, part of a company called Miami Companions, were hit with charges including conspiracy to coerce and entice acts of prostitution, coercion and enticement of prostitution, and conspiracy to commit money laundering in what the U.S. Attorney's Office Wednesday called "one of the largest prostitution organizations in the United States."
The five charged were Gregory Carr (a.k.a. Paul Cutlass), 43, Laurie Carr, 39, Nayubet Loani Swaso, 24, and Michelle Matarazzo, 36, and Fabiola Contreras, 33.
All were arrested Wednesday in Miami, except Swaso, who was captured in Pennsylvania.
According to the Feds, Miami Companions, which was owned by the Carrs, sent call girls to Detroit, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dayton, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis beginning in the "early 2000's until March 2009." In some locations, they even rented out "exotic beach houses, where clients exchanged money for sex," according to the feds.
Swaso, the feds allege, was the manager of the overseas call center the Carrs used to coordinate getting the call girls across the country. Matarazzo was an office manager coordinated all the prostitutes' travel plans, among other duties.
Contreras also helped manage some of the outfit's business affairs and owns bank accounts in which some of the money from the ring was funneled into.
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Feds say the Carrs put over $4 million into numerous bank accounts in the U.S., plus millions more in overseas bank accounts.
All five are scheduled to make and August 11 court appearance in Michigan, where the bulk of the prostitution occurred.
