A New York City financier who was a former money manager for billionaire philanthropist George Soros has been arrested on trafficking charges that allegedly involved a penthouse apartment with a “sex dungeon,” federal prosecutors claim.
Howard Rubin, 70, a former Soros Fund manager, was arrested Friday and picked up at his home in Fairfield, Connecticut, on a 10-count indictment alleging he “often target[ed ] former Playboy models” to “engage in commercial sex acts.”
The charges come a day after former FBI director James Comey was indicted in Virginia and following a vow by President Donald Trump to go after Soros and his Open Society Foundations.
Jennifer Powers, 45, Rubin’s personal assistant, also faces sex trafficking charges for her alleged role.
“The defendants used Rubin’s wealth to mislead and recruit women to engage in commercial sex acts, where Rubin then tortured women beyond their consent, causing lasting physical and/or psychological pain, and in some cases physical injuries,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr.
“Today’s arrests show that no one who engages in sex trafficking, in this case in luxury hotels and a penthouse apartment that featured a so-called sex ‘dungeon,’ is above the law, and that they will be brought to justice,” Nocella added. “Human beings are not chattel to be exploited for sex and sadistically abused, and anyone who thinks otherwise can expect to find themselves in handcuffs and facing federal prosecution like these defendants.”
Rubin managed a Mortgage-Backed Securities Fund for Soros Fund Management LLC in 2008 and quit the firm in 2015, according to reports.
According to the criminal indictment, Rubin is accused of recruiting dozens of women to engage in sex acts with him from “at least” 2009 through 2019. During “many” encounters, Rubin allegedly conducted “beyond the scope of the women’s consent,” the indictment said.
Between 2009 and 2011, Rubin’s alleged crimes took place primarily in luxury Manhattan hotels.
Rubin allegedly leased out a luxury penthouse near Central Park in early 2011, and Powers allegedly “transformed one of the bedrooms in the Penthouse into a sex ‘dungeon’ that was painted red and soundproofed,” prosecutors claimed.
There was allegedly a device to “shock or electrocute” the women in the room.
The women were allegedly paid $5,000 per encounter “if Rubin was satisfied,” according to the indictment.
Rubin was set to be arraigned in Brooklyn, New York, Friday afternoon.
In 2022, Rubin was sued by a group of women who alleged they were sexually abused at his Manhattan penthouse, the indictment states.
According to Bloomberg, he was ordered to pay them $3.85 million and was found liable for sex trafficking and battery.
His lawyers at the time argued the women signed agreements and consented.
