Billionaire businessman Robert Kraft told a police officer he was the owner of the New England Patriots and showed off his Super Bowl ring to the cop minutes after leaving a Florida massage parlor where he had received sexual services from two female workers there for pay, prosecutors allege in a court filing.
And just a day after that discussion with the officer — whom Kraft had asked if he were a Miami Dolphins fan — Kraft returned to the same spa for another sex-for-pay session with one of those women, prosecutors claim.
Kraft then jetted off to Kansas City to watch the Patriots beat the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game later that same day.
When his car had been stopped by a police officer the prior day, he had mentioned to that cop his plans for the game, prosecutors said.
The new details of Kraft's interaction with police came in a filing by the Palm Beach County State's Attorney's Office in that county's court, where he is charged with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution.
Kraft is seen on on video from surveillance cameras police hid in the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida, visiting that business on the two occasions in January, authorities say.
The 77-year-old widower has pleaded not guilty in the case. He is challenging the legality of the surveillance videos, which are the key pieces of evidence against him, and which were obtained through a "sneak-and-peek" search warrant signed by a judge.
A hearing in Kraft's case was being held in Palm Beach County Court on Friday.
Prosecutors in their filing defended the legality of the warrant used to obtain the videos, arguing that Kraft "had no expectation of privacy while inside" the spa. A judge temporarily sealed the videos from public view earlier this week.
Prosecutors noted that while the sexual acts were being performed on Kraft during his first visit there, the door to the room he was in was opened eight different times, which would have allowed anyone walking by the room to see him naked and being fondled.
Kraft is one of two dozen men charged in similar cases linked to the Orchids of Asia spa, among them John Paul Havens, the former president of Citigroup.
Police hid cameras in the spa's lobby and in "several massage rooms" just a day before Kraft's first visit, on Jan. 19, court records show.
Kraft was taken to the spa that day in a white 2014 Bentley driven by his personal driver, Peter Bernon, according to the filing by prosecutor.
That filing said that Kraft is seen on video paying cash at the front desk to a worker named Lei Wang, who took him to a massage room where "Robert Kraft completely undressed" and then partially covered himself with a sheet.
Wang and another woman, Mingbi Shen, then sexually serviced him, according to prosecutors.
Afterward, Kraft "handed additional cash to both of the women and both gave the defendant a warm embrace," the filing said.
Kraft then got into the front passenger seat of the Bentley, and was driven away by Bernon, prosecutors said.
A Jupiter police officer pulled over the Bentley shortly afterward.
"At the time, none of the [police officers who had been watching the video feed from the hidden cameras] knew that the suspect who had just committed the criminal act was Robert Kraft," prosecutors wrote.
Kraft's face was "clearly" seen on the body's camera of the cop who pulled over his Bentley, according to the filing.
"Robert Kraft was very polite and respectful during the whole process," prosecutors wrote. "The defendant asked Ofc. Kimbark if he was a Dolphins fan."
"He then told the officer that he was the owner of the Patriots and that his driver was being nice to him by taking him somewhere," the filing said. "Robert Kraft explained to the officer that he had to go to Kansas City tomorrow."
"He said that the Patriots were playing the Chiefs," according to the filing.
"Kraft then showed Ofc. Kimbark his Super Bowl ring," prosecutors wrote, without identifying which of the then-five Super Bowl rings that Kraft could have at that time. The Patriots won their sixth Super Bowl in February.
"The officer asked the defendant his name again, and he said, 'Robert Kraft,'" and gave the cop his Massachusetts driver's license showing his name, according to the filing.
"The following day, January 20th, 2019, less than 24 hours after his sexual encounter with Mingbei Shen and Lei Wang," Robert Kraft returned to the spa," prosecutors wrote.
He then had a sexual encounter for pay with Wang, according to the filing.
Both Wang and Shen have been criminally charged by prosecutors with prostitution crimes.
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