Southlake resident arrested, accused of sex trafficking women for her boss
A 45-year-old Southlake resident has been accused of trafficking women to New York where they were assaulted during violent sexual encounters with the defendant’s boss, court documents state.
Jennifer Powers was arrested Friday and was scheduled to make her first court appearance Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. She served as personal assistant to retired New York-based financier Howard Rubin, 70, who was also arrested and faces sex trafficking and transporting women charges.
According to their indictment, Rubin recruited dozens of women from around 2009 to 2019 and paid them to have sex with him. Powers allegedly facilitated those encounters.
“During many of these encounters, Rubin brutalized women’s bodies, causing them to fear for their safety and/or resulting in significant pain or injuries, which at times required women to seek medical attention,” the indictment states.
The pair often targeted former Playboy models, and Rubin frequently “engaged in conduct beyond the scope of the women’s consent,” according to the court documents.
Rubin and Powers would downplay what was expected of the women, at times omitting that the encounter would include sexual acts with Rubin, the indictment states. The victims were required to sign non-disclosure agreements in which they agreed to assume the risk of injury or other harm. Sometimes the non-disclosure agreements would be given to them after they had consumed alcohol.
Among other things, Powers is accused of arranging travel and accommodations for the women, getting them to sign the non-disclosure agreements and managing the fallout from their complaints after the encounters with Rubin.
When the women did complain, the indictment states, and send Powers photos of their injuries, she told them to apply ice or bruise cream. She also made excuses for Rubin, the indictment says, saying that he was drunk or that it was the woman’s fault for allowing him to get drunk.
The women were told they would face public shaming or legal consequences if they tried to take legal action against Rubin, according to court documents.
The women initially met Rubin at luxury hotels, but in 2011 the financier rented a luxury penthouse apartment near Central Park and he and Powers turned one of the bedrooms into a “sex dungeon,” the indictment states. The room was soundproofed, painted red, equipped with a lock and furnished with various items, including devices to shock or electrocute the women, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors say Powers was paid generously for her work. From around 2018 through 2023, Rubin paid the rent on Powers’ Manhattan apartment, her children’s private school tuition, her credit card bills and the down payment on her Texas home.
Prosecutors say Rubin and Powers were sued for civil sex trafficking in 2017 but were found not liable.
If convicted of the sex trafficking charges, Powers and Rubin face 15 years to life in prison.
This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 5:01 PM.
