By Murray Weiss, DNAinfo Columnist / Criminal Justice Editor
NEW YORK CITY — A Brooklyn father accused of running several high-end Manhattan brothels that specialized in providing Asian call girls has been indicted, DNAinfo.com New York has learned.
William Thomas, a father of four from Fort Greene, was indicted on prostitution charges as well as 20 counts of money laundering, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars, and for allegedly stealing $10,000 in unemployment insurance, sources said.
Thomas is scheduled to appear Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court following his indictment last Friday in connection with operating hooker pads in Midtown, Downtown and the Upper East Side that catered to well-heeled johns, including investment bankers, Wall St. executives and lawyers, willing to spend $200 to $300 an hour.
“On The Inside” broke the story last October of the investigation and arrest of Thomas — an exclusive that ignited days of frenzied tabloid newspaper stories.
Sources say prosecutors have obtained a trove of bank records showing the 42-year-old Thomas moving cash from one bank to another, and in some cases out of the country.
"A lot of money went abroad," one source explained, adding that the paper trail provided "overwhelming evidence" for the money laundering charges.
The sources say his current paramour — Thomas has been married several times before — is also a subject of the investigation.
Despite raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars, sources said, Thomas was living in virtual squalor with his Japanese girlfriend and a couple of his children.
According to authorities, Thomas allegedly had a thriving operation at 238 E. 50th St. and had three more apartments, on East 39th St., West 36th Street and at One Maiden Lane. He used several websites featuring a bevy of topless and scantily clad woman to attract his “white-collar” Johns. At one time he had roughly 25 women working for him, sources said.
On the websites, the hookers posed as housemaids, schoolgirls and therapists charging roughly $260-an-hour. They also provided times and locations when they were available.
In one posting, clients were reminded, “Don’t Forget WHIPPED CREAM WEEK downtown.” The ads also provided a menu of services ranging from massages and happy endings to XXX-rated action.
The offerings were couched in acronyms and abbreviations, such as “F/S” (Full Service Sex) and “GFE” (Girl Friend Experience Ending With Sex).
On his Twitter page, Thomas described himself as “father, son, friend” and that he has an “entrepreneurial spirit,” and a football fan.
Thomas was picked up last Oct. 11 after he met with an undercover cop posing as a customer and arranged for the cop to have sex with prostitutes at his East 50th Street location. Three of his call girls were also arrested at the time.
He has been free on $35,000 bail.