A mother-son duo are in handcuffs after cops nabbed them for illegally laundering funds from a escort business through a fake companies.
Mother-son duo arrested
Christopher Jelavic, 48, and his 70-year-old mother, Margareta von Lambert, were taken into custody one day apart in Florida on September 11 and 12, respectively.
The pair are accused of laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars generated by running a commercial sex operation disguised as a legitimate business.
According to authorities, Jelavic and von Lambert operated Pretty Woman Escorts out of Pompano Beach, which investigators have described as a “criminal enterprise engaged in commercial sex.”
To conceal their illegal activity, von Lambert allegedly used her job as a licensed realtor to make the business look legitimate.
Through Pretty Woman Escorts, which investigators believe has been operating since April 2000, von Lambert allegedly hired “realtors” who were actually sex workers.
Some of these individuals even held valid real estate licenses, adding to the appearance of legitimacy.
Mother-son criminals used shell companies to launder funds
County records show that a corporation connected to Jelavic purchased a property in 2005, which is where the mother-son pair ran the sex ring out of. They also used a company called Boca Art Studios to conceal their illegal activities.
Jelavic and von Lambert allegedly set up multiple shell companies in Florida to launder money earned from prostitution.
Financial records obtained by detectives show that Jelavic’s bank accounts had received approximately $174,000 between June 2023 and June 2024.
The money, believed to be from prostitution earnings, was then allegedly funneled into joint accounts with his mother through a series of checks and online transfers.
These transfers were often labeled with vague descriptions such as “home remodeling” and “loan for construction.”
Von Lambert’s own bank accounts were funded with about $84,000 during the same period, with deposits coming from the same source.
Despite advertising herself as a “real estate broker, artist & designer,” investigators noted that von Lambert’s accounts showed little evidence of legitimate real estate or art transactions.
One of her only real estate sales came from selling a property owned by one of her son’s shell companies, further facilitating money laundering, according to investigators.
The scheme began to unravel when detectives from the Broward County Sheriff’s Money Laundering Task Force noticed a series of classified ads and online postings Jelavic placed for escort services.
New investigation launched
Detectives combed through years of investigative records, finding evidence of a “pattern of racketeering activity” involving prostitution and money laundering tied to Pretty Woman Escorts and its related businesses.
The escort business had been investigated in the years prior, but police were unsuccessful in identifying Jelavic and von Lambert as the owners, or shutting them down.
A fresh investigation launched by police yielded additional evidence through surveillance, traffic stops, phone records, confidential sources, and undercover operations.
One key discovery came from monitoring the comings and goings at the Pompano Beach property.
Authorities described the sex workers employed by Jelavic as predominantly “young Hispanic and European” women, with clients paying between $300 and $400 per hour for their services, which matched the descriptions of women in the ads he had placed.
Detectives also revealed how the business was structured, with Jelavic taking a 45 percent cut of the earnings, while the sex workers received the remaining 55 percent. Drivers were paid $25 per trip to transport the women to their clients’ locations, typically between 6 p.m. and 5 a.m.
The enterprise was already coming apart at the seams by July 25, with Jelavic telling his mom that he wanted to branch out into legitimate real estate projects, after one of his employees accidentally sent out a mass text message to all of Pretty Woman Escorts’ clients, which caused the business to shut down.
Unbeknownst to the mother and son, law enforcement had intercepted and monitored their communications for months.
Mother-son duo try to flee the country
Jelavic discussed plans with his mother to leave the country so he could hide his assets in August.
He was also overheard telling a former escort that he believed he would be going to prison for money laundering and organized crime.
Their attempts to flee the country were thwarted on September 7, when Jelavic, his mother, and his wife were apprehended at Miami International Airport. Jelavic had purchased tickets for two different cities in Brazil, intending to escape prosecution.
Jelavic and von Lambert have been charged with money laundering and deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution.
They’re stuck behind bars until they can come up with bail money that is not connected to their illegitimate businesses.
