Two men accused of running suburban prostitution ring caught griping how coronavirus is hurting business: feds

The feds hit the “Norridge Girls” as the virus loomed and the world began to change.

The Dirksen Federal Courthouse, where Mustafaa Saleh pleaded guilty to wire fraud in the scheme involving the Cook County Land Bank Authority, the county agency where he formerly worked.

Dirksen Federal Courthouse, 219 S. Dearborn St.

Sun-Times file

Federal agents investigating a prostitution ring known as the “Norridge Girls” nabbed Marcin Ciborowski at O’Hare Airport on Valentine’s Day — back before the coronavirus changed everything.

They put him in the McHenry County Jail, where they say he’s been waiting to be shipped back to Poland. While he was there, the feds allege he called an associate, Mariusz Daniluk, to discuss their prostitution business, including on March 12.

That’s about when the world began to change in Chicago. So Daniluk didn’t have good news, according to court records. He told Ciborowski they were suddenly short on clients.

“Today’s there’s nothing,” Daniluk allegedly said on one recorded call, “but yesterday I’m telling you, that yesterday there was six, four and five [clients] right.”

“Maybe it’s just that type of f---ing sh---y day,” Ciborowski suggested. “Was the weather warm today or no?” Daniluk told him, “It’s raining but a good day for work, you know?… But f--- nothing man, zero f---, you know responses.”

Finally, Ciborowski said, “F---, man f---, what the f--- is this, since the morning they’re talking about this corona sh—, a—holes.”

That exchange, translated from Polish, now appears in a 94-page criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday against Ciborowski and Daniluk, accusing them of conspiring to bring in women to the United States for prostitution. The feds connected them to an alleged criminal organization employing Polish and Eastern European women as prostitutes on Chicago’s Northwest Side and in the nearby suburbs. The organization is often referred to as “Norridge Girls,” “NG” or “NG 2.0” in online forums, the feds say.

A third person, Mateusz Dzielski, has also been charged in a separate case in connection with the investigation.

Though the women were allegedly led to believe they would be working for a prominent escort agency — or performing sex work that involved travel, gentlemen, yachts and hotels — they wound up working in small houses or apartments where they were expected to work as prostitutes for 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

One woman told authorities she was beaten 10 or 11 times by clients who insisted on having sex with her without a condom. She showed law enforcement photos of herself with a bloody nose and bruises on her legs. She said her only established distress signal was to scream.

Ciborowski and Daniluk allegedly referred to the women who worked for them with nicknames such as “the Russian,” “the Czech,” “the Ukrainian” and “Meatball.”

When the men spoke again March 14, Daniluk allegedly reported that one — “the Czech” — was sick. He said she had “fever, cough etc.”

“Uhuh, uhuh, let’s hope it’s not that f---ing you know,” Ciborowski said, according to court records. He later added, “Yeah, and if one is sick the rest might be sick as well.”

They spoke again two days later. Daniluk said, “I went to four stores, had to buy three packs of toilet paper, drove it there.”

“Yeah, and how’s the sick one?” Ciborowski said.

“The sick one is better,” Daniluk said.

“Ah, so then that means it’s not corona,” Ciborowski said.

Daniluk told him, “But, I, I did not go inside.”

“Well, no no no,” Ciborowski said. “Why the f--- would you?”

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