2000-2004 Archived Reports

[Boston Monger]

Alleged club activities 'no secret'

By Elizabeth Dinan
edinan@seacoastonline.com


KITTERY, Maine - "No shocker" is how one Kittery businesswoman reacted Saturday morning to news of a federal indictment alleging the local Danish Health Club was operating as a prostitution business for the past 14 years.
"Everyone knew it," she said. "It was no surprise."

The Saturday breakfast crowd at local haunt Sue’s Seafood was equally unfazed.

"I’ve known for 14 years. It’s no secret," said one woman. "My dad used to go there. I knew what was going on."

When asked if he was surprised to hear federal authorities had indicted a Kittery lawyer on charges of operating a sex-for-cash business at the Route 1 Bypass landmark, another dining resident laughed.

"Are you new to town?" he joked. "Some summer locals might not have known, but we weren’t surprised. It was a surprise that it was going on for so long."

Kittery Town Councilor Rich Balano wondered why it went on for so long after the Danish Health Club was raided by the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation Division on June 9. So, he said, he subsequently met with Kittery Police Chief Edward Strong to put the question to him.

"Chief Strong showed me stacks of evidence that he had handed over to federal agencies," Balano said. "He said that in Maine, prostitution is a misdemeanor, and if he put a lot of time and effort into it, it almost seemed like it wouldn’t be worth the time spent. According to him, it would be more fruitful to bring in federal agents. It satisfied my curiosity of why more things weren’t done locally. He pleaded that his hands were tied, so I backed off."

Chief Strong said he "can’t say anything" about the indictment because it’s an ongoing case. But when told about Belano’s version of their discussion, he made an exception.

"What I said was that we can’t enforce the federal statutes like money laundering and crossing state lines. Those are all federal statutes that we can’t enforce," said the Kittery police chief. "We can only enforce the misdemeanor prostitution charges, so that’s why we cooperated with them."

Balano said when heard about the federal indictment of former town councilor and Kittery lawyer Gary Reiner, alleging he laundered $2.5 million through the prostitution operation he managed at the so-called health club, like the locals at Sue’s, he too was not surprised.

"I don’t think anybody was surprised," he said. "Pretty much everybody in town said they’d all heard the rumors, so it seemed everyone knew it was going on. I’m sure more and more will come out."

Fellow Town Councilor Leo Guy lives in the Danish Health Club neighborhood and said he "knew the FBI had been working on it for a long time."

How did he know?

"I just knew," he said. "People that I knew first hand went in there. Everyone knows someone who went in there. It’s that white elephant in the living room."

As a neighbor, Guy said he drove by the now-infamous club regularly and made the observation that most of the cars in the lot tended to be from Massachusetts and high-end. He’d often beep his horn and wave at exiting customers, "just for fun."

"You never saw any work trucks," he said. "And no one was ever hanging out in the parking lot, ever, ever. Once in a while you’d see a couple of the girls on a smoke break."

Guy said he also anticipated Reiner would be a target of the law enforcement effort.

"I heard about that," he said. "I think from day one they were wondering what was going to happen to Gary."

Kittery Town Attorney Duncan McEachern said it was his understanding that the town had "no involvement in the investigation." As a resident, he too would "hear what everybody else hears" about activities at the club.

Asked how a prostitution business could operate in town for at least 14 years, according to the federal indictment, McEachern was at a loss.

"I can’t say," he said. "But it can’t be a good thing to read about that going on in Kittery. I am surprised that it’s a lawyer doing that."

The four-count indictment, dated Wednesday, alleges Reiner conspired to launder about $2.5 million obtained from unlawful activities, transported persons to engage in prostitution, advised club managers about the operation of the business and met with "some of the pimps regarding women working at the club."

Federal authorities also accuse him of hiring and firing prostitutes, placing advertisements for the business in an X-rated magazine and collecting and depositing cash. He’s also charged with advising Mary Ann Manzoli of Lynnfield, Mass., widow of former Danish Health Club owner Leo Manzoli.

During the 1993 federal corruption trial of former Massachusetts Congressman Nicholas Mavroules, Manzoli testified he paid Mavroules for licenses to operate massage businesses in that state.

Leo Manzoli loaned $250,000 to Joel Lehrer for the purchase of the Danish Health Club in 1991. Lehrer died 10 years later, and the terms of the realty trust for the health club property named Manzoli and Reiner as successor trustees, leaving Reiner the only surviving trustee.

Councilor Guy said that in spite of the allegations about the illegal business in his neighborhood, the Danish Health Club wasn’t an outward nuisance.

"They were good neighbors," he said. "Unfortunately, they were just doing bad

[Moe_Greene]

Down East Horndogs,

To the best of your knowledge, is the Freeport AMP still jerking along?

Moe

[Boston Monger]

Sex items seized at Kittery spa

By Elizabeth Kenny
ekenny@seacoastonline.com


KITTERY, Maine - Condoms, lubricants, adult magazines and other sex-related evidence were seized during an FBI raid on the Danish Health Club on June 9, according to documents obtained from U.S. District Court in Portland.
A total of 61 items were seized as evidence, the documents show. The items were found in numerous areas throughout the club as well as inside female employees’ purses.

The court documents include a copy of the search warrant authorizing the raid on the club, signed by U.S. District Court Judge David M. Cohen.

The warrant listed items agents had been ordered to search for, including "all evidence relating to prostitution, communications between prostitutes and their pimps and customers ... including but not limited to U.S. currency, condoms and other birth control materials."

The search warrant also requested bookkeeping and financial records, items related to the identities of employees, and records related to daily operations of the club and the club’s ownership.

On the day of the raid, the club at 19 Bridge St. was swarming with FBI agents, Internal Revenue Service criminal investigators and Maine State Police officers.

No arrests have been made since the raid, but the doors have remained locked and town residents are still questioning what exactly happened that day and how the club remained in operation for nearly 20 years.

U.S. District Court Deputy Clerk Susan Hall said the case and the affidavit remained sealed.

The case is still under investigation, according to Boston-based FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz. She would not comment further on the evidence found.

Agents also seized gift certificate ledgers as well as a letter to Kittery lawyer Gary Reiner "dated March 25, 2004, about a disgruntled customer," according to court documents.

Reiner did not return calls Tuesday.

Also seized were at least five cell phones belonging to women whose names either matched or closely resembled the names of women employed by the club. Those women had obtained their massage licenses from the Kittery Police Department.

Under town ordinances, the Kittery Police Department is solely responsible for licensing the massage therapists who work at the Danish Health Club and other massage parlors in town.

The Police Department was given that responsibility in 1987 when the Town Council added a seven-page section to the ordinances on massage establishments. The code required massage practitioners to be licensed and mandated clothing in an effort to rid the town of illegal activity.

At the time the club was raided, Detective William Hackett said 25 females were licensed as massage therapists at the Danish Health Club.

According to court documents, agents seized a list of employees with their "stage" names and shift schedules.

The club was found to be advertised on a variety of Internet sites and publications as more than a traditional massage parlor.

At Xtrememagazine.com, an advertisement shows a photograph of 10 women wearing only baseball jerseys, caps and sunglasses. It reads: "Don’t play with your bat alone in the pub, come hear the music play, come for a relaxing rub, old chum, come to the Danish and play."

Kittery Police Chief Edward Strong said at a Town Council meeting in June that the Police Department had done all it could to end illegal activities at the club, including conducting an undercover investigation that led to an arrest but not a conviction.

On Tuesday, Strong said he could not comment because the investigation is ongoing.

On the same day the club was raided, 11 bank accounts belonging to two people associated with the Danish Health Club and accounts in the club’s name were seized by the IRS. The accounts were confiscated, the IRS claimed, because they were in violation of money-laundering laws.

An IRS notice said the deceased Leo Manzoli and his wife, Mary Ann, were involved in money laundering.

According to past reports, Leo Manzoli was not a stranger to illegal activity.

The Boston Globe reported in February 1993 that a Leo Manzoli was involved in a case against former Massachusetts Congressman Nicholas Mavroules. According to the Globe, Manzoli was the former owner of Parisienne Sauna in Peabody, Mass.

The report in the Globe stated that Manzoli said he paid Mavroules in 1977 and 1978 to keep his massage parlor open.

In 1991, Manzoli sold the Danish Health Club to Joel Lehrer. Manzoli did not cut his ties to the property, however.

Lehrer, who owned the club until he died in 2001, established K&D Realty Trust, naming himself as grantor, trustee and beneficiary. Upon his death, Lehrer named Manzoli and Reiner as successor co-trustees.


Following is a partial list of the items seized in the Danish Health Club raid:

* Baby wipes container containing condoms, "jelly," etc.

* Five pages of e-mails from "Teen Flood - Real Teenage Girls."

* Astroglide gel and other lubricants.

* Cell phones.

* Paychecks.

* A list of employees with their "stage" names and shift schedules.

* Copies of photographs in a FedEx envelope.

* Massage certificates.

* A box containing copies of Xtreme Magazine.

* Business cards with men’s names on them.

[Bill Buxton]

As for another place like it, NOT THAT I KNOW OF AROUND HERE!!!

Buxton..

[Boston Monger]

I hear ya on those Danish complaints Randy Farang. But you know what? I actually miss the Danish. As over priced as it was, I miss the line up, the sitting around in a towel, the TV room, etc. Everytime I left, I cursed spending the money. But while I was there, I loved every minute. I ask you my fellow mongers, is there another place like it? I would love to do it again.

[Little Tony II]

Have any fellow mongers tried GENTLEMANS CHOICE Exotic Rubdowns in Waterville?? I have seen a few adds for them.

How about Garden of Eden in Sabattus?

Tony

[Randy Farang]

Now that the election is over and we don't have to put up with election year posturing from fightened politicians for a few more years until the next election season perhaps we can ease back into the world's oldest business.

While I freely admit that I miss nothing about the Danish, and thought that they had been pushing the establishment for quite awhile, and at the same time pissing of many customers (including yours truly) with poor, and grossly overpriced services, which were delivered by a group of providers who acted like they were minor royalty and demanded to be treated as such. I have this rather strong attitude that if I am paying someone to provide me pleasure then the Golden Rule takes effect. If I've got the gold. I make the rules. I tell you what I want done, how I want it done, and exactly what I expect you to say and do in the process. If you don't like the offer you can say "no" or you can make a counter offer, or you can just walk away. At the Danish I alwas felt that regardless of what I was there to bargain for, they were offering something that was a lot more expensive, that didn't include most, if any, of the services I wanted, and that it would be done treir way, not mine. So what I always seemed to get was less than I bargained for, done in a far less satisfactory way than I expected, at a cost that was higher than I had contemplated. Can't say I miss 'em!

Now, on the other hand, I do miss the loss of services in Beaver Falls. I spend some time between Bath and York and the ladies in Beaver Falls were a delightful addition to the region. The seemed to be building a discreet and reliable business base and were well toward making it a going operation. I was really bothered by the fact that they were considered a "serious" enought outrage against the public morals that a combined state and federal taks force was required to ensure that this moral outrage didn't continue.

In a period when we are unindated with information about threats against the nation from international terrorists, drug smugglers, criminal gangs and organized activities of all kinds that threated the very foundation of the republic why in the world do they focus on a rub'n'tug? In the words of an old country song "The very first madam did business with Adam."

Enough of my rant. And I'm sure I get little sympathy since I'm "only" one of the Summer People. But I got to tell you that here in your Nation's Capitol we have enought sws, of every stripe and color, short, tall, skinny, fat, and for virtually every price range available. And we have, at present, a mere thirty, yes that is 30, AMPs advertising in the Washington Post this morning. (It is an aside, but of interest to some, that the Washington Post will willingly print ads for AMPS in the Sports section (even those they report have been busted occasionally for prostitution in the local news section.) But they adamantly refuse to print ads for rifles, shotguns, pistols or ammunition in the Sports section because "guns are immoral! And, except for law enforcement officiers, pistols are unlawful. Rifles and Shotguns are legal but are heavily frowned upon as being very immoral. Nobody, of course, has adequately explained this to the bad guys who run around town with about as much firepower as the bad guys in Falluja.) The good part is that with all those ads you know exactly where to go. With those occasional reports in the Local news section you know what AMP to avoid because it may be having cop troubles at the moment. The bad part is that, in Washington guns are BOTH immoral and illeagal. Therefor, only thecriminals (who don't mind being called immoral) are running around the streets with guns. If you keep your cool, avoid confrontation, and avoid those AMP on the Police hot list, you can have a GREAT evening. A table shower where some little honey scrubs all the places that even MOM didn't reach, a massage that is designed to build both your bonner and your expectations, and Grand Casino when the moment of truth arrives.

AM I expecting too much in my hopes that I might find something, even a pale shadow of that level of services, somewhere along to coast?

Randy - Ever the Optomist
Randy

[Ordinary Hans]

Have any fellow mongers tried GENTLEMANS CHOICE Exotic Rubdowns in Waterville? I have seen a few adds for them.

Tony

This mention was on their yahoo group.


> Well I will not make the mistake of entering your establishment
> again after the way I was made to feel at your location,very very
> disappointed.Felt more like a shakedown for cash rather than an
> erotic rubdown.


And this response.

> Dear [xxxxx],
> Please call [xxxx] at [xxxxxxx]. He does not want
> disappointed clients. Your call to him will help.
> GC Moderator

[Little Tony II]

Have any fellow mongers tried GENTLEMANS CHOICE Exotic Rubdowns in Waterville?? I have seen a few adds for them.

Tony

[Member #4196]

Augusta area:

After a bad night and no action in Bangor was on the way back south Tuesday evening and picked up the local rag, Kennebec Journal and called a few numbers.

EUREKA, intuition said go with the one that was flirty and had a great sense of humore on the phone. Location is right off 95 at exit 109. Was quoted 160 for a FULL hour and the usual physical description was tall, shapely, tanned and pretty and her name was Promise.

Well, let me tell you that she did not lie. A very attractive long curly haired cutie(cheerleader hair drives me nuts). She has a great bod that is toned and at 38 she looks 28 and her attitude was terrific.

Full service with rubbing, playing, DATY, BBJ and lots of covered cowgirl and reverse cowgirl. This girl knows her stuff and enjoys what she does. Her first questions was, "you aren't in a hurry are you?"

I will post the digits here as she posts them in the KJ 207 622-0168.

Sure made the ride home a lot more pleasant and you can bet I will be back there to check out the other gals as well.

CH

[Bill Buxton]

LEWISTON.

There are still some bar gals doing out side service. The LE thing is still hot as it is everywhere. The MOM/POPS place is a hot spot for the working class gals. There are also some around after the ginn mills close. Roll the dice and try your luck.

PLAY SAFE, BUXTON.

[Auto]

Bill Buxton: Clear out your inbox!

[Member #4196]

I have it from two reliable Maine providers that downeastlinda is a fictitious id and there is a guy behind it. At $750-1,000 per hour, there just might be something fishy here for sure.

[Sharkman CT]

In Search of any feedback or reviews on downeastlinda@yahoo.com?

[Bill Buxton]

The Feds are passing out paperwork on to the danish gals in the next fue days. They want to know about the inner workings of the place. And they also want to know about the out of state gals who had PI'S AND they want there names!! The smoking gun so to speek is still smoking around here. The SACO raid of working gals just makes the area look like a working gal haven up here. The asain parlors that were shut down and the other things bring more heat to this oft frozen seaside hamblet!!!

There are still local treasures around.

Buxton.