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Boyfriend of 'Millionaire Madam's' Pal Put Up $1.1M House for Bail

By Tom Liddy | March 14, 2012 6:49am
Jaynie Baker and her attorney Robert Gottlieb appear in Manhattan Supreme Court on March 13, 2012 for her arraignment on charges of promoting prostitution.
Jaynie Baker and her attorney Robert Gottlieb appear in Manhattan Supreme Court on March 13, 2012 for her arraignment on charges of promoting prostitution.
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DNAinfo/John Roca

By Shayna Jacobs, Leslie Albrecht, Serena Solomon and Tom Liddy

DNAinfo Staff

MANHATTAN — The investment banker boyfriend of alleged "Millionaire Madam" accomplice Jaynie Mae Baker put his $1.1 million Long Island house up as collateral to pay for her $100,000 bail, according to sources and court documents.

The digs in the tony north shore town of Mill Neck, owned by Marcus Laun, 43, was listed in the bail affidavit for Baker, who faces a single charge of promoting prostitution in connection with the multimillion dollar Upper East Side call girl ring allegedly led by Anna Gristina.

The ranch-style brick home, which has 4 bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms, sits on five acres at the end of a private road in the North Shore enclave, according to real estate listing site Zillow.com.  The house overlooks a tree-lined gully. 

Jaynie Baker on the VIP Life's website.
Jaynie Baker on the VIP Life's website.
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VIP Life

Sources said that the former vice president at the Lower Manhattan-based Chardan Capital Markets and Baker, a recruiter for a high-end Fifth Avenue matchmaking service, were dating on and off for the past four years.

"They seemed real happy together. They acted like two kids in love," said Jim Blackman, a Texas-based friend of Laun's. "She seemed real nice. She was nice-looking."

Blackman, who has known Laun for more than a decade but only met Baker once, called the Columbia Business School grad a "super nice guy."

"There are only a couple of dozen nice people on Wall Street and Marcus is one of them," he added.

Laun left his job as vice president at Chardan about a month ago, according to the company, although it was not immediately clear why.

Previously, he had served as managing director at Knight Equity Markets and a vice-president at Brean Murray & Co., according to his LInkedIn profile.

Tenants at his Mill Neck home — a father and son who had been living there since last November — said that Laun last stopped by two weeks ago. He was supposed to install carpet last week but never showed.

The dad, who identified himself only as Charles, said that he had been sending rent checks to Laun's workplace but was told to start sending the payments to a new address beginning last week.

Laun, who sources said is not a target of the five-year probe into the prostitution ring, did not immediately return a call for comment.

Baker, 30, from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court Tuesday to face a single charge of promoting prostitution. She faces up to seven years in jail if found guilty.

Prosecutors said that the stunning strawberry blonde was discussed by "numerous informants" in connection with the case.

Gristina was arrested on February 22, but Baker was missing until last weekend. Her lawyer said she'd been vacationing on Cabo San Lucas.

Sources said that Gristina, a mother of four who is cooling her heels on $2 million bail at Rikers Island, and Baker met at a series of networking dinners that Gristina, 44, hosted for high-powered business people, including a Scottish billionaire and real estate and architectural honchos.

But prosecutors say that Gristina, of Monroe, NY, bragged about making millions running a brothel out of an East 78th Street apartment.

She also claimed to have law enforcement ties that would tip her off if she were under investigation, according to the DA's office.