For 25 years, a seemingly legitimate real estate business in South Florida was hiding a deeply disturbing secret. Run by a mother and her son, Pretty Woman Escorts operated in plain sight, boasting of a huge regular clientele and one of the most lucrative VIP client lists in South Florida. But after years of evading law enforcement, an intricate and thorough investigation finally pulled back the curtain. This is the story of Margaretta Von Lambert and her son Christopher Jelovic, and the fall of their empire.

Welcome to Love and Heartbreak to Homicide. We’re Kai’s AI co hosts bringing you your Wednesday and Friday episodes all written by Kai. While Kai hosts the full length episodes every Monday. Today is your Florida Man Friday case where where every Friday we head down to Florida and look at crimes that are as shocking as they are tragic. Real stories of relationships, violence and betrayal. Before we begin, remember this podcast is sponsored by you, my lambs. You’re the reason this show keeps going. Patreon.com loveandmurder by joining, you get intro free and ad free episodes, bonus cases you won’t hear anywhere else, and extra content that goes even deeper. It’s not just support. You’re becoming a voice for the victims. Along with me, you can join for free where you do get some benefits or you can choose any bonus tier starting at only $3 per month. Patreon.com loveandmurder now let’s get into today’s Florida case. Side note, this case is still ongoing, so everything said in this episode is alleged.

On April 20, 2000, 70 year old Margarita and her 48 year old son Christopher registered Pretty Woman Escorts Inc. With the state of Florida’s Sunbiz. The business wasn’t exactly hiding. Its website, which reports say was still operational as of October 2024, featured profiles of potential escorts and a workfor us tab openly recruiting women with ads that.

Read Pretty Woman Escorts is the most sought after agency in South Florida. We are established in business for over 20 years with a huge regular clientele. Our ladies get quality bookings because we have one of the most lucrative VIP client lists in South Florida. Are you an attractive, friendly, outgoing woman? Would you like to make thousands a week or even in one day?

Kai checked the website and it still looks like it’s up. But she couldn’t 100% verify because her antivirus software flagged the site and she didn’t want to risk it. However, the telephone numbers are all disconnected.

Other ads listed quote young Hispanic and European or Latin American and European women for 300 to $400 an hour. One description read Quote, good things come in tiny packages. This tiny 5 foot 2 Colombian is waiting for you.

Another asked, do you have a desire for a woman who will mesmerize you, allure you, and invite you with her touch, charisma, charm, intelligence, and sensuality?

The operation was run from a building at 3311 North Dixie highway in Pompano beach, which Christopher purchased in 2005 when he was just 24 years old. The operation was well organized, with regular employees, including a front desk person and drivers. Escorts were transported by drivers to clients in hotels, homes, or Apartments, charging $400 an hour. Drivers were paid about $25 per trip, and escorts kept 55%, and Christopher took 45%. In January 2024, detectives with the Broward county sheriff’s money laundering task force launched a new investigation after finding multiple online ads for escort services. This time, they were determined to prove and dismantle the operation. Detectives built their case with confidential informants, undercover officers posing as clients, surveillance, GPS trackers, hidden cameras, and even trash pools that turned up client ledgers. They also incorporated traffic stops, subpoenas, and controlled recorded calls. On one occasion, on February 13, 2024, investigators followed an escort and, um, her driver to an apartment. The client had left his blinds open, and a detective who had been watching from a nearby golf course recorded photos and video of the escort and client having sex through the uncovered window.

After she took her clothing off, the male subject turned off the lights, and their silhouette could be seen partially in and out of the large uncovered window. After several minutes, the female was observed having sexual intercourse with the male.

In another operation, an undercover officer, uh, applied to be a driver. During the interview, Christopher asked him, so.

You know what we do here?

Undercover officers also called to book appointments posing as potential clients. An employee texted one officer, hello, Michiko.

Here with tonight’s fabulous talent. Let me know if you want pictures.

To secure a booking, the john was required to send a photo of a piece of mail or a hotel reservation to verify his location. Prosecutors say the escort business was only part of the scheme. The bigger operation was money laundering. Margarita, a licensed real estate broker, used her business to give the operation an air of legitimacy. Basically, to disguise the prostitution proceeds, shell companies were made, including boca art studios, where sex workers were registered as real estate agents and even carried valid real estate licenses. During the investigation, it was revealed that. Huh. Between June 1, 2023 and June 1, 2024, Christopher’s bank accounts received about $174,000 in prostitution earnings through zelle credit card transactions and Cash deposits. This money was then funneled via checks and online transfers into joint accounts with Margareta. From there, about $84,000 went into Margarita’s private accounts. The transactions were disguised as, quote, home remodeling, loan for construction, iph school refund, travel expenses and several checks marked bathroom remodeling. Investigators detailed that Christopher officially reported earning only $3,000 per quarter, but through Margareta, he was able to buy millions of dollars in real estate. One affidavit said, what is noticeable when.

Examining Margareta Von Lambert’s bank accounts is, is the lack of financial transactions of real estate activity for an account associated with a, uh, real estate business and the lack of financial transactions of art studio activity for an account associated with an art studio business.

By the summer of 2024, stress appeared to be mounting on Christopher. On July 25, a confidential source reported that he told his mother he was quote, fed up with the stress and wanted to shut the escort business down and suggested they focus on real estate instead. Around that same time, a new employee he had been training for a month mistakenly sent a mass text to all clients, causing business operations to completely shut down. Christopher vented and complained that everyone, including his son, constantly asks him for money. He even considered selling the Pompano beach office, which he called the enterprise’s nerve center. Uh, on August 1st, Christopher and Margaretta met to discuss transferring properties to his teenage son to reduce tax liabilities. Later that month, monitored conversations captured Christopher saying he planned to buy a home in Croatia, suggesting he might move assets overseas. He was also heard, uh, telling a former escort that he was, quote, going to prison for money laundering, organised crime and other serious offences. And then saying his goodbyes, he then told another associate that police had seized all his assets and that he will be going to prison, saying that he hoped he would survive. Believing that they would be arrested any day, Christopher and Margareta worked on leaving the country. Just after 3:00am On September 7, 2024, Christopher went to Miami International Airport and bought tickets to two different cities in Brazil for himself and his wife. Margareta joined them later that day. On September 11, Christopher was arrested and Margareta was taken into custody the next day. They are both charged with one count of money laundering, over $100,000 within 12 months, and one count of deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution. The duo remains in custody at, uh, the Broward County Jail. Christopher’s bond is set at $1 million, while Margarita’s is $200,000. If they are released, they cannot leave Broard or Palm beach counties Prosecutors laid out the case in a more than 100 page affidavit detailing what they allege was a 25 year prostitution and money laundering enterprise operating in plain sight. Margarita’s husband, Joseph Fordyce, is not facing any criminal charges, but he was named in the affidavit. When approached, Joseph said that he was not ready to talk about the case.

I think it’s premature to discuss anything. I don’t want to comment.

So far, there have been no updates to the case.

That’s it for this Florida Man Friday case. What did you think? Drop your thoughts in the comments below or over in the Patreon. And if you’d like to keep this podcast going and become a voice for the victims with us, join the patreon@patreon.com loveandmurder it’s listener funded, which means you make the show possible. Plus you’ll get bonus episodes, case extras, intro, free listening and more. Patreon.com loveandmurder thanks for listening all the way to the end and for supporting Love and Murder. We’ll see you in the next episode.