Alamosa woman charged in ‘high-end prostitution ring’

Facebook photo of Maggie Rains

Reynolds may also be known as ‘Maggie Rains’

ALAMOSA– A 45-year-old Alamosa woman and an Israeli man are facing federal charges for allegedly “running a sprawling, high-end prostitution ring” that operated in Manhattan, NY, according to reports from the New York Post this week.

Tracy Reynolds and her alleged partner Izhak Cohen of Israel, allegedly “laundered more than $10 million through thousands of bank accounts and financial institutions in the US and overseas,” according to federal prosecutors, the Post reported Tuesday.

A news release on the website for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) confirms Reynolds as being from Alamosa. That office also reports that Reynolds was possibly also known as “Sara.”

According to Facebook posts, a Tracy J. Reynolds of Alamosa may also perform music under the name of Maggie Rains. The complaint against Reynolds and Cohen refers to an email account “purportedly associated with a wedding music business operated by Reynolds,” and was signed by “Tracy J. Reynolds.”

The Post went on to report, “Reynolds and Cohen allegedly set up their prostitution company, called “VIP Escorts,” in 2012 and arranged for prostitutes to meet clients in Manhattan and other areas across the country, prosecutors said in a statement.

“After the prostitutes charged the clients thousands of dollars for sex work, they deposited their profits into thousands of different bank accounts controlled by Reynolds, authorities said.

“More than $10 million in total was passed through accounts owned by Reynolds in the prostitution operation, according to prosecutors.

“Reynolds then allegedly passed more than $1 million to Cohen in Israel in small amounts to hide the transactions.”

Reynolds was reportedly arrested in Florida Tuesday morning at Tampa International Airport while boarding a flight to Mexico.

According to the complaint on the SDNY website, Reynolds and Cohen, 53, of Hadera, Israel, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and two counts of money laundering, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The SDNY news release states that, “the charge contained in the complaint is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.”

According to the SDNY news release, “Reynolds and Cohen required escorts to deposit the proceeds of their commercial sex acts into a large number of bank accounts that they controlled, many of them in the name of fake entities. Reynolds and Cohen then laundered the money through thousands of domestic and international financial transactions.

“In total, over $10 million passed through various personal and business accounts controlled by Reynolds during the course of this conspiracy, and over $1 million was sent from Reynolds in the United States to Cohen in Israel in thousands of small transactions designed to conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds.”


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