Former NYC financier and assistant indicted in decade-long sex-trafficking scheme, prosecutors say

A federal indictment unsealed Friday charges Howard Rubin, 70, a former NYC money manager, and his longtime assistant Jennifer Powers, 45, with a decade-long sex-trafficking scheme. The 10-count indictment, filed in Brooklyn federal court, accuses Rubin and Powers of coercing, transporting and exploiting multiple women over about a decade, beginning in 2009 and ending in 2019.

Prosecutors say the pair lured the victims to New York under false pretenses, then subjected them to physical abuse at luxury hotels and in a penthouse that prosecutors describe as a makeshift sex dungeon. Authorities allege Rubin used messages to tell Powers about the encounters and to coordinate payments and travel for the women.

In one 2015 exchange described by prosecutors, Rubin allegedly wrote to Powers: "Did you shock her p—y??" after telling her that he had his way with a woman tied up to a cross. The messages, the filing notes, also show Rubin bragging that his electrocution device was effective, even as he complained that the device was losing power.

In another set of messages from 2016, Rubin allegedly described a planned threesome and urged that he "abuse" the other woman for hours, writing, "I don’t care if she screams." The prosecutors say the pair coordinated the acts and the payments that supported them.

"It got very rough," prosecutors said Rubin wrote in one account, followed by a directive to Powers to be "VERY VERY VERY nice … Very important trust" as they managed the scheme.

Rubin’s longtime wife, Mary J. Henry, filed for divorce from him in 2021 after the bombshell allegations surfaced. Powers, who had worked for Rubin since 2011, was arrested in Texas, while Rubin was taken into custody at his Connecticut home. The scheme, prosecutors say, lasted from 2009 to 2019, according to the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Neither Rubin nor Powers entered a plea, and their attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The indictment alleges the couple lured women to New York under false pretenses and exploited them through coercion, intimidation and cash payments, with at least some victims described as financially vulnerable. The case underscores concerns about abuse of power and exploitation by individuals in high-finance circles, and authorities say the investigation remains ongoing as prosecutors pursue all counts and any related charges.

Images associated with the case earlier this decade show Rubin at public events and gatherings, illustrating the public profile he once held before the allegations became public.