Straight Strip Boss Busted

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From the Daily News, I see that a New York strip club owner has been accused of unsavory doings never found in gay venues:

 

Strip club owner 'shocked' at allegations, insists biz one of 'cleanest'

By Mike Jaccarino

Daily News Staff Writer

 

Sunday, July 20th 2008, 11:39 PM

 

 

Lou Posner

Daddy says sex was not required.

 

The prominent lawyer accused of pimping out dancers at his Manhattan strip club vigorously denied Sunday that his staffers were turning tricks.

 

In an exclusive jailhouse interview, Lou Posner, whose employees called him "Daddy," told the Daily News that women working at his W. 38th St. club gave male patrons nothing more than a good show.

 

"I'm just flabbergasted. I'm shocked, shocked," he said yesterday morning at the Manhattan House of Detention. "The Hot Lap Dance Club is one of the cleanest clubs around."

 

Posner and his wife were collared Thursday night during a raid of his swank 7,000-square-foot loft in midtown and charged with promoting prostitution and money laundering.

 

"They're making a mountain out of a molehill," the disgraced lawyer said.

 

Several strippers told The News that dancers and clients would sneak off to private rooms for sex, and that Posner would "fine" the women if he found out - taking a cut of their money.

 

Dressed in a gray jumpsuit and appearing relaxed, Posner insisted that the private rooms - which dancers claim contained a small bed and desk - were designed only for dancing.

 

"We know what goes on in the rooms. Managers were constantly checking," he said.

 

He also deflected accusations that his dancers arranged for off-site sex, saying staffers had to stay all night unless they were sick. Guards even escorted them to cars to make sure they went home alone, Posner said.

 

Plus, he added, his girls just weren't that type.

 

"We hired intelligent, well-spoken girls, some of them Ivy League girls, putting themselves through college for the most part," he said, adding that some had boyfriends and husbands.

 

A 13-page indictment alleges that the posh club had cubicles where patrons could spend $300 for a 15-minute romp and that high rollers could retire to private bedrooms for more personalized attention for $500 to $5,000 more.

 

One employee also told a cop the women had to have sex with Posner if they wanted a job, court records show. Posner bristled at that allegation.

 

"I'm a married man with a beautiful wife," he said. "That's just sour grapes from the girls that we didn't accept."

 

He added, "I'm sure if you asked the girls, they would say that 'Lou is one of the best bosses we ever had.'"

 

Posner defended one of his dancers, the porn star Alexia Moore, who was also arrested and charged with prostitution. Moore, whose real name is Cassandra Malandri, would perform shows, Posner said, but he "highly doubted" that she would offer anything more.

 

"She could have been joking," he reasoned. "You know, throwing out a figure to make someone drop the subject. Like, 'Yeah, sure, I'll do it for $5,000.'"

 

Posner - who allegedly funneled funds through a voter-registration group called Voter March - said he set out to create a club that was "loose and not stiff" and catered to upscale "Wall Street" types.

 

"They're not going to bring their clients to someplace where anything illegal or inappropriate is going on," he said.

 

Held on $150,000 bail and unable to access some $570,000 from 13 bank accounts and two safe-deposit boxes, Posner said what made him angriest was that his wife was arrested, picked up in her pajamas from their posh apartment.

 

"She never worked a day in the club in her life," he said. "The most she did was make brownies [for the staff]."

 

Otherwise, Posner seemed to be taking his imprisonment in stride.

 

"I'm trying to look at it in a positive way," he said. "I need to lose some weight."

 

mjaccarino@nydailynews.com

 

With Carrie Melago