Pimp from Jersey City Heights admits to laundering millions made through call girl service

Saturday, June 12, 2010, 9:01 AM
The Jersey Journal


Joseph Ruis

A Jersey City Heights man pleaded guilty yesterday to laundering more than $3 million a year that he made providing big spenders with prostitutes and drugs, officials said.

Joseph Ruis, 44, operated World Class Party Girls and faces up to seven years in prison when he is sentenced on Sept. 17, said Hudson County Assistant Prosectutor Devarup Rastogi. Ruis is currently free on a $500,000 bail.

A yearlong probe began after Hoboken police received a tip that led to county investigators dismantling the escort service.

For more information, see today's Jersey Journal

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Jersey City Heights man admits laundering millions of dollars made providing big spenders with prostitutes and drugs

Saturday, June 12, 2010
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A Jersey City man who ran a high-price call girl service in the Heights pleaded guilty yesterday to laundering the more than $3 million per year he made pimping out prostitutes and sometimes having drugs delivered to the johns as well, officials said.

Joseph Ruis, 44, of Leonard Street at Summit Avenue, operated World Class Party Girls and faces up to seven years in prison when sentenced on Sept. 17, said Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Devarup Rastogi.

Investigators found credit card bills ran as high as $20,000 for one session when more than one prostitute was involved and cocaine was delivered as part of the deal,

The World Class Party Girls website is gone, but when Ruis was busted last July it had images of 40 scantily clad women and listed rates of $500 to $3,500 per hour. It was based on Sherman Avenue off Bowers Street and several call center workers and supervisors were charged, as were some high-fee hookers, Rastogi said.

Rastogi said no johns were charged and those contacted were cooperative and were prepared to testify at trial. Some had tabs as high as $100,000.

A tip to Hoboken police kicked off the one-year probe by county investigators that dismantled the escort service. Police used an undercover officer posing as a potential john and then traced the credit card bill to reveal the structure of the escort service and the players, Rastogi said.

Several hundred thousand dollars were seized from bank accounts associated with the service, Rastogi said, adding that Ruis forfeited a property on Park Avenue in Hoboken.

At the time of his arrest, Ruis had recently opened the Kebab House restaurant at Newark and Washington streets in Hoboken, but a short time later a sign in the window said it was closed, officials said. One of the ring's call takers told investigators she was paid through the kababerie.

"It was an outstanding job by the detectives," said Rastogi, crediting detectives Marc Marsi and Pat DeCarlo. "It's not an easy case. You have to review a lot of financial paperwork and you really have to understand it - then start talking to the johns."

Customers would contact the service by telephone or the website and prostitutes would be transported to the agreed upon location, said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio. The drivers would also deliver drugs upon request.

DeFazio said not every aspect of the operation was illegal. Prosecutors would not provide the names of johns, but said the list did not include anyone "in the public eye."

Ruis, who is free on a $500,000 bail, will be sentenced by Hudson County Superior Court Judge Kevin Callahan.

The funny part about people that think every nonviolent drug offender should be in jail or prison is they don't realize drugs are just as easy to get in jail/prison, it just cost more. So the addict keeps getting high and the dealers make even more money. In many cases a nonviolent offender learns to become more violent and picks up new crime techniques.

Regulator--those street hookers are exactly the ones I meant being safer from predators and having mandatory check ups. They have an average life span of two and half years! Unfortunately it is mostly because they are murdered. It would still be illegal if you did it in a public place or didn't go for check ups. With marijuana it would still be illegal to drive under the influence, etc. Alcohol is involved in a lot of domestic and other violence. I never saw anyone smoke a marijuana cigarette and get up and say "I'm gonna kick your a--", they say, "Pass the chocolate chip cookies man."

Yes Wibbit, alcohol is a drug and it can be abused. Just because your Big Daddy Government says its ok for you to have it doesn't change that. The misuse of alcohol has killed far more people than the misuse of cocaine but unfortunately alcohol abusers face far less prosecution than cocaine users. I'm not for misuse or abuse of any substance but I am for some common sense and balance in the failed stategies of the Drug War which our country insists on pursuing not only on its own territory but around the world.

Drugs Won the War

New York Times
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: June 13, 2009

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/opi ... p=1&sq=drugs%20won&st=cse

My favorite excerpt:

This year marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon?s start of the war on drugs, and it now appears that drugs have won.

?We?ve spent a trillion dollars prosecuting the war on drugs,? Norm Stamper, a former police chief of Seattle, told me. ?What do we have to show for it? Drugs are more readily available, at lower prices and higher levels of potency. It?s a dismal failure.?

It is obvious to me that prohibition is a complete failure. People like wibbit should post something other than government propaganda.

"Judging by every metric, decriminalization in Portugal has been a resounding success," says Glenn Greenwald, an attorney, author and fluent Portuguese speaker, who conducted the research. "It has enabled the Portuguese government to manage and control the drug problem far better than virtually every other Western country does."

Quote:

it's not the existing users. When you legalize this stuff, it will cause many more people to use them since they are readily availiable and legal. Do you really want a country hooked on white powder? It will be devastating across all social/economic aspects.

Drugs aren't natural? Are they a recent phenomenon?

Regardless of whether we like drugs or not, it's far more counter-productive to spend money to investigate, prosecute and incarcerate drug users than to simply let them use. And it kills the whole black market thing.

drug, especially the hard stuff, is something to be avoided and banned, it degrades the society and is not natural.

prostitution should be legal, sex is part of human nature. And i agree with marybarr (finall we not talking about beacon anymore!), it will bring much needed oversight to the industry, and prevent std from spreading by requiring checkups, and protect those women legally from abuse etc...

However it will NEVER happen, due to the deep religious root of our country. The politician who suggest that will be committing instant career suicide.

When are we gonna get real and legalize prostitution? The area would be out of the way of schools, there would be regular doctor check-ups, and the women would be safer from all the predators out there. Not to mention folk saving money by cutting out the middlemen. It's like our drug policy--the more laws we pass against it the more folk who find a way to make it a business, instead of putting all this stuff in the cops hands (since THEY are often customers of prostitutes AND drug users) why not place it in the hands of doctors and regulate it? Sex and drugs certainly aren't going anywhere--why not make it safer?

Quote:

Will you settle for a White Castle as monetary payment?

Heights man charged as operator of call girl ring digs for 'clean' bail

Friday, July 03, 2009
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Jersey City man charged with running a call girl service out of a Heights office was still trying to arrange bail last night following an afternoon hearing to ensure the bail money did not come from a nefarious source, officials said.

After Joseph Ruis, 43, of Leonard Street, was arrested Tuesday and charged with promoting prostitution, leading a narcotics distribution network and money laundering, his original bail was set at $500,000 cash only, officials said.

Yesterday morning, prosecutors agreed to relax the cash-only restriction and at a source hearing Ruis' 77-year-old father said he would use property as collateral for the $50,000 needed to secure the $500,000 bond, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Dave Rastogi said.

Police say Ruis operated World Class Party Girls out of an office on Sherman Avenue at Bowers Street, and that he took in $250,000 per month by charging up to $3,500 an hour for the services of one of 40 scantily clad models pictured on his Web site.

Investigators said the operation also provided cocaine when requested by a client who hired a model. But Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio noted that not every aspect of the operation was illegal.

During Tuesday's search, police recovered records listing hundreds of customers, DeFazio said, adding that prosecution of customers and models will depend on the ongoing investigation. The prosecutor would not provide the names, but said the list, at this point, does not include anyone "in the public eye."

Rastogi said the financial aspects of the investigation are complex and that he thinks the case will likely not be presented to a grand jury until fall.

Ruis' attorney, Vincent Lapaglia of Hoboken, could not be reached for comment.

Are they accepting applications?

I wonder if some of the "girls" who popped up on tonnele ave are from this place.. hmm

Like Charlie Sheen said, "I don't pay them for sex, I pay them to leave.."

High-price call girl ring smashed in Jersey City, cops say

by Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
Wednesday July 01, 2009, 7:53 PM

Police have charged a Jersey City Heights man with running a high-price call girl ring, in which he offered clients cocaine and charged up to $3,500 an hour for the services of one of the 40 scantily clad models pictured on his Web site, officials said.

Joseph Ruis, 43, of Leonard Street at Summit Avenue, was arrested late Tuesday and charged with promoting prostitution, being the leader of a narcotics distribution network, and money laundering, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said yesterday. The business took in about $250,000 per month before it was shut down, DeFazio said.

......

Ruis recently opened the Kebab House restaurant at Newark and Washington streets in Hoboken, officials said. Yesterday there was a sign in the window of the Kebab House saying the restaurant was temporarily closed.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... girl_ring_smash.html#more