The personal assistant for alleged S&M bondage fiend financier Howard Rubin — who prosecutors say had every aspect of her life paid for by her multimillionaire boss — had her parents secure her bail Wednesday in her federal sex-trafficking and tax fraud case.
Jennifer Powers, 45, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges she recruited and paid women to come to Rubin’s twisted “sex dungeon” in his Midtown penthouse apartment, and lied on her taxes about the $9 million Rubin shelled out to fund her and her husband’s lifestyle.
Powers, who was initially released on a personal recognizance bond after an appearance in federal court in Texas, had her bond set at $850,000 when she appeared before Brooklyn Federal Court Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo.
Her father, Larry Mcguffin, who appeared in person, and her mother, Maria Teresa Mcguffin, secured the bond with their Texas home and part of their stake in a business the couple owns.
Powers will remain on home detention, forbidden from contacting Rubin or any of the alleged victims in the case. She, her father and her lawyer declined comment as they left the court.
The feds allege Powers served as Rubin’s right hand in a plot to psychologically and sexually brutalize several women, and even procured the “bondage cross” used to chain and restrain them in the soundproof, locked “dungeon” in a bedroom of his penthouse apartment near Central Park.
The Midtown Manhattan apartment building where Howard Rubin is accused of sexually brutalizing and torturing women in a “sex dungeon” in his apartment. (Google)
Rubin is accused of beating and raping the women, even after they fell unconscious, ignoring their “safe word” or gagging them so they wouldn’t be able to say it.
On multiple occasions, women confided in Powers regarding what Rubin made them endure, believing that Powers cared about their well-being,” the feds alleged in court filings. “In reality, Powers made excuses for Rubin, blamed the women for Rubin’s behavior, or provided damage control by encouraging women to tend to their injuries with bruise cream and ice, or in some instances paying off the women in consultation with Rubin.”
Powers is charged with sex trafficking, violating the Mann Act and tax fraud. Her husband, who also faces tax fraud charges, faces arraignment at a later date.
Rubin, who was arrested Friday morning in Fairfield, Conn., remains held without bail.
Originally Published: October 1, 2025 at 6:34 PM EDT
