A mother and son arrested in the Pretty Woman prostitution empire used a clever ruse to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars

A Florida mother and son were arrested and charged with money laundering after law enforcement discovered the pair allegedly set up fake real estate companies and shell companies to process earnings from prostitution.

Christopher Jelavic (48) and his 70-year-old mother Margareta von Lambert were arrested one day apart on September 11 and 12, respectively.

The duo is accused of money laundering, which allegedly totaled hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Court documents detail how Jelavic and von Lambert lived in South Florida and operated a business in Pompano Beach called Pretty Woman Escorts as a “criminal sex-for-hire enterprise.”

It is believed that the company has been operating for several dozen years, and its beginnings date back to April 2000.

Detectives identified a nondescript building on the corner of North Dixie Highway as the center of the operation, and district records show a corporation associated with Jelavic bought the commercial building in 2005, when it was just 24 years old.

Since then, the mother and son allegedly established shell companies registered with the Florida Division of Corporations to “facilitate the laundering of commercial sex proceeds.”

The documents show that Von Lambert used her Florida real estate license to facilitate the venture and provide a sense of legitimacy.

But the entire empire collapsed when detectives on the Broward County Sheriff’s Money Laundering Task Force became suspicious when Jelavic posted multiple ads and classified ads for “escort services.”

Although several investigations have been launched into Pretty Woman Escorts over the years, none have succeeded in disrupting or shutting down operations or finding those responsible for running the suspect enterprise, CBS Miami reports.

Detectives reviewed previous investigations and discovered individuals allegedly “participating in racketeering activity” that included prostitution and money laundering through Pretty Woman Escorts and other companies.

Police then launched a new investigation in which they gathered additional information from records searches, as well as evidence from surveillance, traffic stops, citations, recorded phone calls, confidential sources, undercover operations and any trash searches.

After sifting through the trash, detectives also monitored the entry and exit of every car and person who visited the Pompano Beach property.

The prostitutes were described as “young Latinas and Europeans” and customers paid $400 per hour to spend with them.

Broward Sheriff’s Office Detective Jairo Barrera explained how prostitutes earned a 55 percent share while Jelavic took a 45 percent cut.

The company also used drivers who were paid approximately $25 for each trip to a customer’s location between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m.

But the pressure seemed to be mounting, and one incident on July 25 detailed how a confidential source told detectives that Jelavic allegedly expressed “deep frustration and stress” to his mother about ongoing problems at the company and suggested they focus more on real estate. ventures.

Detectives investigated further and learned from a confidential source that Jelavic had told a co-worker that he had to cancel an event that evening due to a “serious employee problem.”

According to documents obtained by Local10, which are more than 100 pages long, Jelavic explained how a woman he trained for a month accidentally sent a mass text message to all of his clients.

This led to a complete halt in his business activities, resulting in his phone being disconnected and his business going out of business.

After the incident, Jelavic said he was “fed up with the stress” at the company.

One of his colleagues then suggested that he should focus on real estate instead.

The documents detail how Jelavic allegedly reunited with his mother on August 1.

On this occasion, the spouses discussed transferring their assets to their teenage son in order to reduce their tax liabilities.

The investigation revealed that approximately $174,000 was allegedly deposited into Jelavic’s bank accounts at Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase through various means, including Zelle, credit card transactions and cash deposits.

It is alleged that all of the money came from earnings from prostitution between June 2023 and June 2024.

The payments were then allegedly withdrawn from his bank accounts via checks and online transfers to joint accounts with his mother, von Lambert, documents show.

During the same period, von Lambert’s checking accounts received approximately $84,000 in deposited checks and Zelle payments that originated from the same account.

Jelevic’s shell companies then allegedly sold the Tamarac property, and von Lambert was the realtor involved who helped “facilitate this money laundering transaction.”

Authorities say documents show Jelavic and von Lambert at one point tried to leave the United States for Brazil to avoid prosecution.

Jelavic and Lambert were charged with money laundering and deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution.

They will both remain in prison until they can prove that the source of their bail has nothing to do with the crimes they are accused of.

If corrections officers release them on bail, they will not be allowed to travel outside of Broward and Palm Beach counties.