Who is Howie Rubin, the money manager charged with sex trafficking and torturing women?

By Steve Gelsi

Federal prosecutors formally charge Rubin with crimes connected to an alleged $1 million sex scheme

Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, has charged former bond trader Howard Rubin with using his wealth "to mislead and recruit women to engage in commercial sex acts."

Howard Rubin was known on Wall Street for decades as a hard-charging bond trader who was portrayed in a best-selling book, and later as a fund manager for billionaire investor George Soros.

But in recent years, allegations of alleged sex trafficking emerged in civil litigation against Rubin, who is reportedly worth tens of millions of dollars at a minimum.

Now Rubin, 70, known as "Howie" and "H," faces federal criminal charges, along with his personal assistant, Jennifer Powers, 45, for allegedly spending $1 million on interstate commerce for sex.

Rubin first rose to some fame as a figure in Michael Lewis's 1989 book "Liar's Poker," where he was introduced as a fresh recruit at Solomon Brothers who had decided to learn how to count cards because he was bored with his former career as a chemical engineer.

Rubin ended up making $25 million in his first year at the firm by using some of the lessons he had learned at the casino.

"At Salomon he had the advantage of superior information about the past behavior of homeowners, and only when he had this edge did he make the bets," Lewis wrote.

But Rubin's Wall Street career was not without its setbacks.

The Securities and Exchange Commission launched administrative proceedings against Rubin in 1989 after he allegedly contracted to sell $500 million worth of interest-only securities to Merrill Lynch customers against his supervisors' directions.

Merrill Lynch fired him, and he went to work at Bear Stearns, remaining there until 2008, when the bank collapsed in the global financial crisis.

He then moved to Soros Fund Management, working as a portfolio manager from 2008 to 2015.

Two years later, a civil lawsuit was filed against Rubin for alleged sex trafficking and torturing his victims. Two of the plaintiffs were former Playboy playmates.

Rubin has retired from Wall Street and lives in Fairfield, Conn., where federal agents arrested him after a 10-count indictment was unsealed today in Brooklyn federal court.

Joseph Nocella Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Rubin allegedly used his wealth to "mislead and recruit" female victims and then torture them "beyond their consent, causing lasting physical and/or psychological pain, and in some cases physical injuries."

Federal prosecutors said Rubin's Manhattan penthouse contained a soundproof room and bondage equipment, including a device used to inflict electric shocks on women.

-Steve Gelsi

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