Officials: Prostitution ring served LI

Investigators said they broke up a lucrative prostitution and drug ring in Brooklyn Wednesday that allegedly sent women to clients in New York City, Long Island and Westchester.

Seventeen people and five companies were named in the 144-count indictment charging that websites such as "High Class NY" sent out female escorts who charged clients $400 to $3,600 an hour for sex. Among those indicted as key investors of the operation were Mikhail Yampolsky, his wife Bronislava and his son Alexander, all of Brooklyn. Two others who allegedly invested in the business were also named as were a number of office managers and limousine drivers who allegedly drove women to their appointments with johns.

Executive Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Christopher Blank said many of the women either met their clients at New York City hotels or, in the case of those living on Long Island, traveled by car to private residences. Many of the women came from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Brazil, though some were from the United States, said Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Gingold.

Records of the High Class operation showed it earned more than $7 million between September 2007 and November 2010, said Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes. He noted that two investors who each put up $700,000 in seed money were repaid in full with interest. Some prostitution clients spent as much as $10,000 for the women, investigators said.

Blank said most of the women had entered the United States legally but some may have overstayed their visas.

Hynes said that the suspects face charges of enterprise corruption, promoting prostitution, money laundering and drug sales. Two of the escorts were charged separately with prostitution and drug sales, he said. The maximum penalty upon conviction for the most serious enterprise corruption charges is up to 25 years in prison. Arraignment information was not available late Wednesday.