A prominent Wall Street investor who once served as money manager to billionaire liberal financier George Soros is locked in a scandal in which he’s accused of abusing women in a “sex dungeon.”
Howard Rubin, 66, is being sued by six women who all say he abused them in his New York City penthouse apartment, according to the New York Post and the Daily Mail.
“In short, they are each alleging that they were brought to New York and taken advantage of,” John Balestriere, the attorney for the women, told The Post. “Allegations come down to [the women] saying they were physically and sexually abused.”
Rubin – who’s wheeling and dealing in the financial world was chronicled in books such as “Liar’s Poker” and “The Big Short” – allegedly paid them about $5,000 per session for sadomasochistic sex.
However, the women say those encounters went well beyond what they had agreed to as they were physically abused and he routinely ignored their “safe words,” or a chosen word meant to stop the activity.
The court papers cited by the newspaper detail a room in the penthouse set aside for S&M activity, with red walls, white carpet and alphabetized assortment of sexual devices including extensive restraints.
One woman also alleges that Rubin got her addicted to drugs.
George Soros' right-hand man Howard Rubin accused of BDSM crimes in NYC sex dungeon https://t.co/aX7RCvT7lc
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) August 3, 2021
Two say they thought they were signing up for “mild fetish games” but instead were bound and gagged with ropes and tape and beaten.
An attorney for Rubin said the women knew what they were getting into, and agreed to it in advance.
“Each of the women, all adults, had explicit knowledge of the highly paid sexual arrangements for which they willingly traveled,” the attorney told The Post. “Multiple women confirmed consent through text messages before and after their encounters, returned for multiple encounters, arranged for their closest friends to engage in the same sexual activity and repeatedly solicited Mr. Rubin long after their final encounters.”
He also said they have text messages confirming that Rubin told them what they would be doing, and they consented.
It’s the latest in a long string of accusations against Rubin.
A 2017 report – also in the Post – said at the time three women including two former Playboy models had come forward to claim Rubin had beat them to the point that they needed “excessive medical attention,” according to court papers cited by the newspaper.
He allegedly told one of the women: “I’m going to rape you like I rape my daughter.”
And another woman was beaten so badly her implant was damaged, which Rubin paid $20,000 to repair, according to the report.
Yet another said she was given a jolt with a cattle prod into her groin, then was raped, according to the documents.
However, one accuser reached a settlement with Rubin in 2019, releasing a statement saying that she “knowingly and voluntarily chose to engage in consensual sexual activity with Mr. Rubin, including Sadomasochistic activity,” the Post reported at the time.
The terms of that deal are confidential.
It’s not clear if any of the women from the previous reports are also involved in the current legal action.
Rubin’s wife, with whom he shares three children, filed for divorce last month, according to the Daily Mail.
One source who knows the couple was stunned by the sordid allegations.
“They’re great people,” the source told The Post. “I’ve known them for 10-plus years. They have always been very honorable.”
However, another associate wasn’t surprised at all.
The Post said a former colleague at Merrill Lynch – where Rubin was fired in the 1980s after losing $250 million in an unauthorized trade, at the time one the biggest losses in history – said the accusations were “Howie being a lowlife – again.”
He said he didn’t know about Rubin’s other activities, but added: “Howie has no morals. While at Merrill Lynch, he was morally bankrupt.”
— Walter W. Murray is a reporter for The Horn News. He is an outspoken conservative and a survival expert.