A Florida night club owner with alleged ties to an Eastern European organized crime ring is due in federal court today, ABC News reports.
The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations arrested Alec Simchuk, 45, of Latvia, at Miami International Airport on Thursday, according to the FBI's Miami division.
Simchuk was allegedly involved in a scam in which women illegally imported from Russia and other Eastern European nations would prey upon unsuspecting male tourists and lure them to expensive, exclusive night clubs. After hours of drinking, the men would be left to pay enormous bills, totaling in some cases tens of thousands of dollars.
The "b-girls," or bar girls, got the best of John Bolaris, a former weatherman who told "20/20" he was conned out of $43,712.25 in an alcohol-fueled night out.
"They came across very cutesy, and very sincere, and very nice, like the girls next door," Bolaris said of the women who took advantage of him. "This wasn't a hooker-type thing."
An undercover cop who infiltrated the criminal operation set up a pretend birthday party in April at one of the clubs to arrest the b-girls and their managers. The FBI raid at Club Tangia brought in 16 suspects: a dozen women and several male managers and accountants.
Simchuk had already returned to his native country at the time of the birthday party sting. It is unclear what prompted his return to Florida, according to ABC News.
Support HuffPost
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.