March 11, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 2, 1429

NEW YORK, March 10: The Governor of New York State Eliot Spitzer has told senior advisers that he had been involved in a prostitution ring, The New York Times reported on Monday on its website citing senior administration officials.

Some political insiders said that Mr Spitzer may resign at the end of the week.

Spitzer, who is married with three daughters, was scheduled to make an announcement on Monday afternoon.

The Times reported that a person with knowledge of the governor’s role believes the governor is identified as a client in court papers. Four people allegedly connected to a high-end prostitution ring called Emperors Club VIP were arrested last week.

The website of the Emperors Club VIP displays photographs of scantily clad women with their faces hidden, along with hourly rates depending on whether the prostitutes were rated with one diamond, the lowest ranking, or seven diamonds, the highest. The most highly ranked prostitutes cost $5,500 an hour, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said the defendants arranged connections between wealthy men and more than 50 prostitutes in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami, London and Paris.

The Times reported that the governor’s travel records show he was in Washington in mid-February, and that one of the clients arranged to meet with a prostitute on the night of Feb 13.

The case is being handled by prosecutors in the Public Corruption unit of US Attorney Michael Garcia’s office. Garcia spokeswoman Yusill Scribner said the office had no comment.

Spitzer, 48, built his political legacy on rooting out corruption, including several headline-making battles with Wall Street while serving as attorney general.

He stormed into the governor’s office in 2006 with a historic share of the vote, vowing to continue his no-nonsense approach to fixing one of the nation’s worst governments.

Time magazine had named him “Crusader of the Year” when he was attorney general and the tabloids proclaimed him “Eliot Ness.”