Bayrock exec arrested in Turkey in connection with alleged prostitution ring

Tevfik Arif, the New York-based developer and chairman of the Bayrock Group, was arrested in Turkey this week in a helicopter raid on a luxury yacht and is being held at police headquarters as the suspected organizer of an international high-end prostitution ring, Bloomberg News reported. The Bayrock Group was a partner in the Trump Soho hotel and condominium, along with the Trump Organization and the Sapir Organization. Arif launched his U.S. career in 1996 with the development of a 280,000-square-foot waterfront shopping center in Brooklyn; now, Bayrock’s other projects include the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. An attorney for Arif, who is a Turkish citizen, said his client will “vigorously defend himself in any court of law” as he is the victim of a “smear campaign.” Nine others are also being held in custody in connection with the alleged prostitution scandal, in which men were said to have paid $3,000 to $10,000 per night to sleep with Russian and Ukrainian women from modeling agencies. Of the 10 women detained in the raid, two were below the age of 18, which is the legal age for sexual consent in Turkey. [Bloomberg]