Las Vegas escort service operator pleads not guilty to financial charge
Escort service operator Emmanouil Varagiannis pleaded not guilty Friday to unlawfully structuring $2.4 million in transactions to evade federal financial reporting requirements.
Varagiannis, 42, known as "Manny," is free on his own recognizance while he fights a felony structuring charge.
He showed up in court with a new member of his defense team, longtime Las Vegas attorney Richard Wright.
A Jan. 8 trial was set.
The criminal case is linked to the financial operations of Varagiannis' escort service, Midnight Inc., which does business as Midnight Entertainers.
Between January 2009 and August 2012, according to federal prosecutors, Varagiannis made dozens of cash deposits of less than $10,000 to bank and credit union accounts under his control. Federal laws designed to prevent money laundering require the reporting of all cash transactions exceeding $10,000.
A financial crimes task force run by the Internal Revenue Service investigated the case, which is thought to be the first in a crackdown on the lucrative escort service business, long regarded as a haven for prostitution.
Midnight Inc. provides female outcall "entertainers" directly to the hotel rooms of tourists on the Strip.
Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.
