The $600-per hour luxury brothel scandal in Boston involving an Indian-origin CEO

A luxury brothel scandal involving rich clients has shocked the United States’ Boston city. As per reports, businessmen, public officials, doctors and lawyers paid up to $600 (Rs 51, 625) for sexual encounters at high-end apartments in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and other locations.

One of the alleged clients was the Indian-origin CEO of a top wastewater treatment firm, whose company has come out in his defence. The brothel network was busted in November 2023. “This commercial sex ring was built on secrecy and exclusivity, catering to wealthy and well-connected clientele,” former US Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy said at the time.

Let’s take a closer look.

What’s the Boston brothel scandal?

The brothel ring operated out of rented high-end apartments in Cambridge, Dedham, Watertown, and eastern Virginia.

There are over 30 alleged johns linked to the luxury brothel scandal, as per The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report. “They are doctors, they are lawyers, they’re accountants, they are executives at high-tech companies, pharmaceutical companies, they’re military officers, government contractors, professors, scientists,” Levy said at the time of the bust.

The men allegedly paid over $300 (Rs 25, 813) an hour for sex with Asian women at several posh apartments.

“They chose these locations because they were trying to attract rich and powerful men who wanted to buy sex,” said Leah Foley, US attorney for the District of Massachusetts.

According to the Cambridge police, 12 men paid for sex with Korean women at a Cambridge apartment complex.

“For example, GFE refers to a girlfriend experience, and provides a more intimate experience and blurs the boundaries between a financial transaction and relationship,” said Cambridge Police Lieutenant Jarred Cabral, as per CBS News. “Typically including any and all sex acts.”

The wealthy clients had to fill out applications and provide their IDs, work badges and personal references.

In March, Han Lee, the 42-year-old madam, was sentenced to four years in prison after she pled guilty to conspiracy to influence women into prostitution and money laundering.

Who are all named?

Anurag Bajpayee, CEO of Gradiant, a clean-water startup with a valuation of over $1 billion, was arrested in a prostitution sting in early 2025, reported New York Post.

He is alleged to have paid for sex workers at high-end brothels several times. The MIT-trained mechanical engineer was arrested in the Boston area on misdemeanour charges.

Bajpayee, along with dozens of other men, were named in court documents last month. His company has come to his defence, saying in a statement to WSJ, “We believe in the justice system and are confident that this will resolve favourably in due course. Unrelated to this, Gradiant will continue to pursue excellence in technological innovation and to strive towards our mission to ensure clean water for all society.”

Bajpayee earned a spot on Scientific American’s annual Top 10 World-Changing Ideas list. He studied at La Martiniere College in Lucknow and went on to bag degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia and MIT.

There are growing calls for the resignation of Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner named among the alleged sex buyers. The 58-year-old apologised in March at a council meeting but said he would not resign. “All Americans — including elected officials — are entitled to the right to due process,” he said.

In an apology to his loved ones, the married lawmaker said, “I caused pain for the people I care about most. For that, I will be forever sorry. This is an ongoing legal matter, and I will not have further comment at this time.”

Jonathan Lanfear, the chief executive of the biotech firm HiberCell, bought sex at least 10 times, as per WSJ. He is to be arraigned on a misdemeanour charge.

While attorneys of 13 men accused of buying sex fought hard to ensure their client’s anonymity, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled the hearings to be made public.

Protest over the scandal

The high-end brothel bust has created a huge outcry. In March, the alleged clients were heckled by protesters as they left the Cambridge District Court.

“You never hold the buyers accountable; you won’t end the demand,” Dr Stacy Reed Barnes, a sex work survivor, said, as per CBS News. “You justify it, you rationalise it, and here we are today suffering some more. So, it’s not OK.”

Many anti-sex-trafficking groups have also welcomed the court’s ruling to make the hearings public and naming and shaming johns.

“I would hope that them getting named makes others think about twice what they’re doing,” Ivette Monge, a survivor who works with the nonprofit Ready Inspire Act, told WSJ.

With inputs from agencies