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In late September 2016, Tiffany Marina Rodriguez, then 21 years old, received an invitation: the Alexander brothers wanted her and a friend to “hang out” with them at Basement Miami, a small but swanky nightclub inside luxury hotel The Miami Beach Edition. Rodriguez and her friend took the offer, which came from a promoter employed by Basement Miami.
But what was supposed to be a careless night of dancing and drinking turned into a drug-hazed sexual assault and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) inducing nightmare for Rodriguez, according to a January 22 lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida.
The lawsuit alleges that brothers Oren and Alon Alexander used a vast network to coordinate their sexual assault crimes. According to the complaint (attached at the bottom of this story), their network included individuals from Basement Miami, Miami Beach Edition, Douglas Elliman Real Estate, and Kent Security Services, owned by Orly and Shlomo Alexander (the brothers’ parents). The former real estate moguls are currently on trial in the Southern District of New York on federal charges of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and sex trafficking of two victims by force, fraud, or coercion. At least a dozen women have come forward with sexual assault claims against the brothers since their federal indictment in December 2024. They have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Rodriguez is the latest to come forward in a story first reported by the Miami Herald.
When she and her friend arrived at Basement, another promoter employed by the nightclub took them to a private table with the Alexander brothers, according to the lawsuit. That same promoter — who was not the one who had invited them to the club — then made Rodriguez some drinks.
“Plaintiff consumed fewer than two drinks before feeling severely unwell and struggling to stay awake at the nightclub,” the lawsuit reads. “Given the few drinks she had, Plaintiff knew this feeling was unusual and recognized that she had been drugged. Plaintiff has no recollection of further events at Basement Miami that evening, and only fragmented memories of what followed.”
An attorney for the Alexander Brothers did not return New Times‘ requests for comment, either by phone or email.
The “Horrific Assault”
The remainder of the night came in flashes for Rodriguez: A car ride to a sandwich shop near her Miami Beach apartment. Ignored pleas to go home. Collapsing onto a couch at a luxury condo in Sunny Isles.
When Rodriguez regained consciousness, “she found herself in a bedroom, severely physically restrained. Her body was pinned beneath the arms of a horizontally positioned office chair, with her head and legs forced through the chair’s frame,” the lawsuit states. Both Oren and Alon raped her simultaneously.
“The Alexander Brothers took turns. While one brother brutally raped Plaintiff, the other filmed it on his cell phone and forced Plaintiff to perform oral sex,” the lawsuit reads. “Then they switched and resumed the group rape. The Alexander Brothers eventually dismissed Plaintiff without another word.”
She fled the room to find her friend and the Basement promoter who had made her the drinks on a balcony, not far from where the assault occurred. Rodriguez pleaded with her friend to leave and, on the ride home, told her about the rape. When Rodriguez arrived at her apartment, which she shared with her then-boyfriend, she “recounted the horrific assault” to him and another friend. The next morning, when they struggled to wake her, the boyfriend and friend told Rodriguez they nearly called 911 “because they believed she had been drugged,” the suit reads.
Later that night, “after receiving a video depicting her being sexually assaulted by the Alexander Brothers – consistent with the brothers’ pattern of recording the assaults and circulating the footage as a form or [sic] coercion and control,” according to the lawsuit, Rodriguez’s boyfriend forced her to leave their home.
The next day, the friend who had gone with Rodriguez to Basement confronted the promoter who had invited them there, saying that he placed the women in danger by connecting them with the fellow promoter, “who was affiliated with the Alexander Brothers.” She also identified the condominium where the assault took place, which the promoter confirmed was Olen’s.
But after their talk, the lawsuit says the promoter reported the alleged rape to one of Oren’s associates, “emphasizing the need for the situation to be handled appropriately.” A private investigator acting for Oren later contacted Rodriguez with a threatening message asserting the encounter was consensual and that her credibility would be attacked should she come forward.
Rodriguez was hospitalized for three days after the assault. After going to the doctor to check on an infection from a torn nipple piercing inflicted during the sexual assault, she required surgery. Despite the mental and physical trauma she faced, she stayed silent for years, fearing retaliation and public humiliation, the lawsuit states.
Eight years later, after the Alexander brothers were arrested for sex trafficking in December 2024, Rodriguez discovered that she wasn’t their only victim.
Rodriguez’s attorney, Arick Fudali, a managing partner at The Bloom Firm, described the courage it took for her to go public with her story. “She was empowered by seeing other women come forward. She had been suffering in silence for a long time,” he said in a phone call with New Times.
He explained a phenomenon that enables survivors of sexual assault to finally speak up. “You see what I call ‘collective empowerment,’ where they see the courage, the bravery of one woman coming forward. That usually has a trickle effect that ultimately inspires them to also come forward.”
A “Sex Trafficking Scheme”
The complaint alleges a “sex trafficking scheme” involving the Alexander brothers, Miami Beach Edition (and Marriott International, which operates and manages the hotel), and its nightclub Basement, as well as Orly and Shlomo Alexander and their company Kent Security Services, and Howard Lorber, then-CEO of Douglas Elliman, which employed Oren and Tal. This story focuses on the allegations involving the Alexander brothers, The Miami Beach Edition, and Basement Miami.
Representatives from Douglas Elliman did not return New Times‘ emailed requests for comment. Kent Security Services did not respond to New Times‘ inquiries by phone or email. Marriott International did not respond to multiple emailed requests for comment.
The Alexander brothers routinely spent a lot of money at Basement through table and bottle service (a table at the nightclub today starts at $1,000 and quickly increases from there, according to Tablelist). And because that money “generated substantial revenue” for Basement, the nightclub allegedly helped the brothers carry out their scheme “by directing employees and agents to escort targeted women to the Alexander Brothers’ table, described as the ‘best looking’ and ‘most intoxicated,’ where they were subsequently raped,” the complaint reads.
Once those women were at the table, the Alexander brothers would often drug them. Then, nightclub employees would help transport the victims to the next location, “where the group rapes occurred.” Often, Basement employees would remain at the residence where the assault took place. This went on for years, the lawsuit alleges, even after a “former VIP Director observed unconscious women routinely being carried from the nightclub by Basement Miami’s security.”
Neither The Miami Beach Edition nor Basement Miami responded to New Times‘ multiple requests for comment on this story, including a phone call, emails, and Instagram direct messages.
“Unfortunately, money can go a long way,” Fudali responded when asked why the Edition and Basement would knowingly allow this behavior to continue.
In the months following the assault, Rodriguez attempted suicide and began self-medicating. She still deals with PTSD, including “regular flashbacks, and struggles with depression, anxiety, dissociation, and trust issues,” today, according to the suit.
“I’m really proud of Tiffany for standing up and speaking out about this,” Fudali says. “I was there on day one of the criminal trial, and I’m proud of the other women who have come forward as well. I’m eager to pursue justice in Tiffany’s case.”
