She is one of the most talked about Apprentice characters yet, and she has not even spent a minute of time on the air!
Officially, her name is Alla Wartenberg and she is listed (on NBC’s website) as 31 years of age a Russian immigrant who somehow amassed a fortune of over a million dollars running several Las Vegas “spas.”
What NBC conveniently left of the biography was her tenure as a stripper at Las Vegas’ Palomino Club. She apparently earned $40 for lap dances while in character as “Ecstasy.”
If that weren’t enough, it seems Ms. Wartenberg struck up an unusual relationship while working at the Palomino Club. A California businessman name Robert Acremant, a regular visitor to the club, regularly paid up to $1500 a night for Wartenberg’s “services.”
It seems Acremant’s courtship of Wartenberg was extended outside the club. According to Acremant, he routinely had dinner with her and once gave her a pair of diamond earrings.
His obsession with Wartenberg reached a fever pitch when, desperate for more money to spend on her, he robbed and killed two Oregon women in 1995. He was arrested while robbing and killing another man, Scott George, in a second desperate attempt at securing spending cash in 1995.
Acremant was convicted of the crimes and is currently on death row in California. During his trial, Acremant testified that he considered Wartenberg to be his girlfriend. However, Wartenberg took the stand and denied that their friendship was anything more than a business relationship.
The Apprentice makes its season debut on Thursday, September 22 on NBC.
Credit: The Smoking Gun
