KITTERY, Maine – Eleven of the women who worked at the Danish Health Club were also employed by a club in Hartford, Conn., now known by federal authorities to have been a house of prostitution, according to court documents and published reports.
Since a federal raid on the Danish Health Club, at 19 Bridge St., the history of the club, its operations and the key players who kept it functioning have unfolded.
According to a civil complaint filed in U.S. Federal Court, on Oct. 8, 2003, federal agents executed a search warrant at the Alpha Club. Items seized included job applications for the females who worked there.
“Approximately 11 females whose names appeared on those job applications also worked at (the Danish Health Club),” documents state.
According to a March 23, 2004, State News Service story, the owner of the Alpha Club pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution and admitted the club was a house of prostitution.
On Friday, Kittery attorney Gary Reiner pleaded not guilty to charges he promoted prostitution. Reiner is charged with aiding and abetting the enticement of individuals to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution, laundering more than $2.5 million, conspiring to violate the Travel Act and Mann Act, and aiding and abetting interstate travel and use of interstate facilities to promote prostitution.
Only Reiner and one other individual have been charged in the case to date.
According to U.S. Attorney Toby Dilworth, the investigation into the club is ongoing.
On Friday, after Reiner’s hearing, Dilworth said he could not say whether additional charges would be handed to either Reiner or others who may have been involved in the club.
On Dec. 15, Russell Pallas, of Manchester, N.H., who allegedly served as the club’s manager, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to transport individuals across state lines with the intent to engage in prostitution.
A civil complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, states that “although (the club claimed) to be a massage parlor, a health club or an establishment offering ‘relaxation rubs’ for its adult male customers, the (club) was, in fact, a business where females provided male customers with sexual services for money, and where interstate prostitution and money laundering occurred.”
The civil complaint also highlights the way the club allegedly operated – from how a customer got into the club, to how the John and prostitute would negotiate fees for sexual services.
Club workers and customers of the club acted as confidential witnesses to the case, according to a civil complaint. One worker, who said she was an employee at the club from February 2000 to about June 2001 when she was in her later teens, acted as a confidential witness, documents claim.
“The prostitutes charged $150 for full service, $120 for oral sex, and $100 for a hand release,” the documents allege.
Another club employee, who allegedly worked at the club until it was raided in June, said all the females who worked at the club engaged in sex with customers, documents state. The employee said customers would tip the women more than $200 for sexual intercourse, after they paid around $70 to access the facility, documents allege.
The club has been operating in town for more than two decades.
The FBI began investigating the club and those working there in October 2000. In December 2002, special agents with the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division joined the investigation, according to court documents.
In response to claims around town that police may not have done everything in their power to take action against alleged illegal activities within the club, Kittery Police Chief Edward Strong said Thursday members of the department never set foot inside the Danish Health Club except to investigate allegations that prostitution was taking place behind its doors.
Because the investigation into the club is continuing, Strong said he could not say whether he contacted the federal authorities to step in or whether they contacted him.