Ex-Soros Fund manager indicted, accused of abusing women in Manhattan ‘sex dungeon’

A former Soros Fund Management portfolio manager has been indicted on charges of luring women — including former Playboy models — to his Manhattan penthouse with a room outfitted with a soundproof "dungeon," where prosecutors say he subjected them to violent sexual abuse.

Howard Rubin, 70, a retired New York financier also known as "Howie" and "H," has been indicted alongside Jennifer Powers, 45, his longtime assistant, on federal sex trafficking and bank fraud charges. 

Prosecutors allege that between at least 2009 and 2019, Rubin ran an extensive network where he recruited women to engage in sex in exchange for money, often relying on force, fraud and coercion.

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Rubin is accused of using nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) and coercion to silence women who suffered violent, torture-like abuse. 

FBI Assistant Director Christopher Raia said that Rubin allegedly bankrolled an operation that left women physically and psychologically scarred. Rubin allegedly poured more than $1 million into flights, payouts to women and maintaining the Central Park Manhattan penthouse that was outfitted with restraints and shock devices.

"The defendants allegedly exploited Rubin’s status to ensnare their prospective victims and forced them to endure unthinkable physical trauma before silencing any outcries with threats of legal recourse," Raia said in a news release announcing the charges Friday.

Rubin pleaded not guilty to the charges on Friday after being arrested in Connecticut. A U.S. magistrate judge in Brooklyn ordered Rubin to be detained without bail and said he was a flight risk despite efforts by his lawyers to have him freed on a $25 million bond.

Powers was arrested in Texas Friday and is scheduled to make her initial appearance on Monday in federal court in the Northern District of Texas.

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During a three-decade career, Rubin worked at various financial firms, including Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and Soros Fund Management. Rubin worked at Soros Fund Management from 2008 to 2015 as a portfolio manager, focusing on mortgage-backed securities, though there is no indication he had any personal connection to George Soros, the billionaire financier and philanthropist. 

Now retired, Rubin built his wealth in New York City, where Powers became his personal assistant around 2011 and managed the logistical aspects of their commercial sex operation, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Rubin, with the help of Powers, abused the women after recruiting them to fly to New York to engage in sadomasochistic sex acts with Rubin in exchange for money.

The sex acts initially took place in luxury hotels, prosecutors allege, and then later in Rubin’s two-bedroom penthouse apartment in midtown Manhattan. It was there Rubin and Powers converted one of the bedrooms into what they referred to as a sex "dungeon" that was painted red, soundproofed and furnished with BDSM equipment and devices, including a device to shock or electrocute the women, prosecutors said. 

The women included victims who had previously been sexually abused, were financially desperate or who suffered from addiction. Once they were in New York, the women were encouraged to use drugs or alcohol to prepare for their sexual encounters and they sometimes engaged in conduct beyond the scope of their consent, prosecutors said.

During the encounters, the women suffered significant pain, including bruises and psychological trauma, and sometimes required medical treatment, according to prosecutors.

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After the sexual encounters, Rubin’s money was used to pay the women by wire transfer or a payment service such as PayPal or Venmo. Powers at times structured the payments to avoid sending a single transaction of $10,000 or more, to avoid triggering reporting obligations by the bank.  

If convicted of sex trafficking, the pair each face a minimum of 15 years to life in prison.  

Rubin faces up to 30 years for bank fraud after he allegedly lied on mortgage paperwork to help Powers buy a Texas home, falsely claiming he wasn’t involved in any lawsuits.

Some of the alleged victims sued Rubin and Powers in 2017. A jury found at trial that only Rubin was liable and awarded the women $3.9 million. He is currently appealing the verdict.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.