Feds seize assets of prostitution ring

? Federal agents have seized more than $427,000 in cash and stocks from a woman accused of running a money-laundering scheme from her Washington-based prostitution business, court records obtained Monday show.

An affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington describes a two-year investigation into a steamy scam that netted Deborah Jean Palfrey, of Vallejo, Calif., more than $750,000 since January 2000.

Palfrey’s clients may have included wealthy doctors and lawyers in Washington and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs, but no well-known names have so far surfaced, said a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The escort service, Pamela Martin & Associates, advertised in newspapers, on Web sites and in the Yellow Pages. It operated since 1993 “as an out-call prostitution business” of college-educated women with other jobs, the affidavit claims.