Hollywood madam gives up secrets

Hollywood's latest celebrity madam Michelle Braun (left), whose alleged clients and charges put Heidi Fleiss (right) to shame, has reached a deal with prosecutors that should keep her out of jail. But it leaves Tinseltown in a frenzy because the deal apparently involves handing over her little black book to the authorities.

The 31-year-old mother of two is alleged to have charged as much as $50,000 for a night with one of the 70 women on her books, said to include Hollywood actresses, Playboy centrefolds and top fashion models.

None of her clients has so far been named, but they included "big names" according to Braun’s lawyer, Marc Nurik. "Let's just say you'd be shocked," he teased.

Braun's operation was busted in 2007 when an FBI agent posing as a "Platinum club member" asked her to fly a woman to New York from Los Angeles.

Nurik admitted the men who used Braun's service did so to get sex. "I'm not sure people would pay money to meet a porn star and talk about Stephen Hawking's newest book," he commented.

Filling the void left by the collapse of Heidi Fleiss's empire in the late 1990s, Braun apparently used her online company Global Travel Network Inc as a front for the operation. She charged her clients $1,500 simply to register with her website and see photographs of women on her books. Callgirls could claim $10,000 a day in travel expenses and her charges dwarfed those of Fleiss.

Prosecutors in California estimate Braun made up to $10m over 10 years from prostitution. Now, in return for a lighter sentence, Braun has pleaded guilty in a California court to charges of operating the prostitution ring. The next court hearing has been set for October.