Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
For twenty five years, a seemingly legitimate real estate business
in South Florida was hiding a deeply disturbing secret run
by a mother and her son. Pretty Woman Escorts operated
in plain sight, boasting of a huge regular client tell
and one of the most lucrative VIP client lists in
South Florida. But after years of evading law enforcement, an
(00:25):
intricate and thorough investigation finally pulled back the curtain. This
is the story of Margareta von Lambert and her son
Christopher Jellyvish and the fall of their empire.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Welcome to Love and Murder, Heartbreak to Homicide. We're Kai's
Ai co hosts, bringing you your Wednesday and Friday episodes
all written by Kai, while Kai hosts the full length
episodes every Monday. Today is your Florida Man Friday Case,
where every Friday we head down to Florida and look
at crimes that are as shocking as they are traped,
(01:01):
real stories of relationships, violence, and betrayal. Before we begin,
remember this podcast is sponsored by you, My Lambs. You're
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(01:22):
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Now let's get into today's Florida case. Side note, this
(01:46):
case is still ongoing, so everything said in this episode
is alleged.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
On April twentieth, two thousand, seventy year old Margarita and
her forty eight year old son Christopher registered Pretty Woman
as School, Inc. With the State of Florida's Sunbiz. The
business wasn't exactly hiding. Its website, which reports say was
still operational as of October twenty twenty four, featured profiles
(02:12):
of potential escorts and a work for us tab openly
recruiting women with ads that.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Read pretty Woman Escorts is the most sought after agency
in South Florida. We are established in business for over
twenty years with a huge regular clientele. Our ladies get
quality bookings because we have one of the most lucrative
VIP client lists in South Florida. Are you an attractive, friendly,
outgoing woman. Would you like to make thousands a week
(02:38):
or even in one day?
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Kai checked the website and it still looks like it's up,
but she couldn't one hundred percent verify because her anti
virus software flagged the site and she didn't want to
risk it. However, the telephone numbers are all disconnected.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Are the ads listed? Quote young Hispanic and European or
Latin America and European women for three hundred to four
hundred dollars an hour. One description read quote good things
come in tiny packages. This tiny five foot two Colombian
is waiting for you. Another asked, do you.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Have a desire for a woman who will mesmerize you,
allure you, and invite you with her touch, charisma, charm, intelligence,
and sensuality.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
The operation was run from a building at three three
one one North Dixie Highway in Pompano Beach, which Christopher
purchased in two thousand and five when he was just
twenty four years old. The operation was well organized, with
regular employees, including a front desk person and drivers. Escorts
were transported by drivers to clients in hotels, homes, or apartments,
(03:51):
charging four hundred dollars an hour. Drivers were paid about
twenty five dollars per trip, and escorts kept fifty five
percent and Christie took forty five percent. In January twenty
twenty four, detectives with the Broward County Sheriff's Money Laundering
Task Force launched a new investigation after finding multiple online
(04:12):
ads for escort services. This time, they were determined to
prove and dismantle the operation. Detectives built their case with
confidential informants, undercover officers posing as clients, surveillance, GPS trackers,
hidden cameras, and even trash pulls that turned up client ledgers.
They also incorporated traffic stops, subpoenas, and controlled recorded calls.
(04:38):
On one occasion, on February thirteenth, twenty twenty four, investigators
followed an escort and her driver to an apartment. The
client had left his blinds open, and a detective who
had been watching from a nearby golf course recorded photos
and video of the escort and client having sex through
the uncovered window.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
After she took her clothes of the male subject, turned
off the lights and their silhouette could be seen partially
in and out of the large uncovered window. After several minutes,
the female was observed having sexual intercourse with the male.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
In another operation, an undercover officer applied to be a driver.
During the interview, Christopher.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Asked him, so you know what we do here.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Undercover officers also called to book appointments posing as potential clients.
An employee texted one officer, Hello.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Michico, here with tonight's fabulous talent. Let me know if
you want pictures.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
To secure a booking that John was required to send
a photo of a piece of mail or a hotel
reservation to verify his location. Prosecutors say the escort business
was only part of the scheme. The bigger operation was
money laundering. Margherita, a licensed real estate broker, used her
business to give the operation an air of legitimacy, basically
(05:57):
to disguise the prostitution proceeds. Shell companies were made, including
Boker Art Studios, where sex workers were registered as real
estate agents and even carried valid real estate licenses. During
the investigation, it was revealed that between June first, twenty
twenty three and June one, twenty twenty four, Christopher's bank
(06:20):
accounts received about one hundred seventy four thousand dollars in
prostitution earnings through Zell credit card transactions and cash deposits.
This money was then funneled via checks and online transfers
into joint accounts with Margaretta. From there, about eighty four
thousand dollars went into Margarita's private accounts. The transactions were
(06:43):
disguised as quote home remodeling, loan for construction, iph school refund,
travel expenses, and several checks marked bathroom remodeling. Investigators detailed
that Christopher officially reported earning only three one thousand dollars
per quarter, but through Margareta, he was able to buy
(07:05):
millions of dollars in real estate. One affidavit said.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
What is noticeable when examining Margarita von Lambert's bank accounts
is the lack of financial transactions of real estate activity
for an account associated with a real estate business and
the lack of financial transactions of art studio activity for
an account associated with an art studio business.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
By the summer of twenty twenty four, stress appeared to
be mounting on Christopher. On July twenty fifth, a confidential
source reported that he told his mother he was quote
fed up with the stress and wanted to shut the
escort business down, and suggested they focus on real estate instead.
Around that same time, a new employee he had been
(07:50):
training for a month mistakenly sent a mass text to
all clients, causing business operations to completely shut down. Christopher
vented and compled that everyone, including his son, constantly asks
him for money. He even considered selling the Pompano Beach office,
which he called the Enterprise's nerve center. On August first,
(08:12):
Christopher and Margaretta met to discuss transferring properties to his
teenage son to reduce tax liabilities. Later that month, monitored
conversations captured Christopher's saying he planned to buy a home
in Croatia, suggesting he might move assets overseas. He was
also heard telling a former escort that he was going
(08:33):
to prison for money laundering, organized crime, and other serious offenses,
and then saying his goodbyes. He then told another associate
that police had seized all his assets and that he
will be going to prison, saying that he hoped he
would survive, believing that they would be arrested any day.
Christopher and Margaretta worked on leaving the country. Just after
(08:58):
three am on September seventh, twenty twenty four, Christopher went
to Miami International Airport and bought tickets to two different
cities in Brazil for himself and his wife. Margaretta joined
them later that day. On September eleventh, Christopher was arrested
and Margareta was taken into custody the next day. They
(09:19):
are both charged with one count of money laundering over
one hundred thousand dollars within twelve months and one count
of deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution. The duo
remains in custody at the Broward County Jail. Christopher's bond
is set at one million dollars, while Margarita's is two
hundred thousand dollars. If they are released, they cannot leave
(09:43):
Broad or Palm Beach Counties. Prosecutors laid out the case
in a more than one hundred page affidavit detailing what
they allege was a twenty five year prostitution and money
laundering enterprise operating in plain sight. Margarita's husband, Joseph Fordyce,
is not facing any criminal charges, but he was named
(10:04):
in the affidavit. When approached Joseph said that he was
not ready to talk about the case.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
I think it's premature to discuss anything. I don't want
to comment.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So far, there have been no updates to the case.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
That's it for this Florida Man Friday case. What did
you think? Drop your thoughts in the comments below or
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(10:43):
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next episode.