RUBDOWN SHAKEDOWN
Midtown ‘masseurs’ try to blackmail Aussie pol
A blind Australian politician ordered a massage at his Midtown hotel room — but his quest for a good time didn’t have a happy ending, law-enforcement sources said Wednesday.
Gareth Ward, who represents the coastal resort town of Kiama in the Australian Parliament, instead became the target of a blackmail bid by the two “masseurs” who showed up Tuesday night, the sources said.
Ward, 36, was staying at the InterContinental New York Times Square when he called a phone number provided by an acquaintance, the sources said.
The Liberal Party member (inset) — who has a form of albinism and has been legally blind since birth — opened his door at around 10:30 p.m. and let in two unidentified males, sources said.
Once inside, one shot video on his cellphone while they told Ward they were both underage and threatened to expose him if he didn’t fork over $1,000, sources said.
Ward said he needed to get the cash from an ATM and headed to the lobby, where he instead sought help from a desk clerk who called 911.
The would-be extortionists fled along West 44th Street and were being sought by cops.
Ward told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that he paid $100 online for a “normal, standard massage” and had already taken off some of his clothes when the shakedown unfolded.
“They said to me, ‘We’re underage, we’ll put this on the Internet unless you give us money,’ ” Ward told the network.
“I said, ‘I didn’t order this, get out of my room, I want you to leave, I don’t have any cash.’ ”
“I was terrified . . . I didn’t know whether they would mug me or not. I was worried they would bash me,” he added.
Ward was in New York on “per- sonal leave” as part of an overseas trip “for work,” and was in Canada on Wednesday, the ABC said.
Tuesday night’s incident marked the latest in a string of scams aimed at out-of-towners.
Last week, a 79-year-old Florida man told cops that two busty women stole his watch and $3,000 in cash from his room at the Loews Regency Hotel following a night out at the Club Macanudo.
A Saudi Arabian diplomat also lost a $30,000 Gerald Genta watch, a $12,000 Rolex and $2,500 in cash earlier this month to a woman he picked up the 1Oak nightclub and brought back to his Manhattan apartment.