Spitzer uses call-girl ring over eight times

BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhuanet) -- New York Governor, Eliot Spitzer, who is amid call-girl scandal, had used an international call girl ring at least eight times in recent months, according to CNN reports.

Sources familiar with the investigation into Spitzer's relationship with the ring said that the liaisons between Spitzer and a number of different prostitutes occurred around the country, including in Washington, D.C., and Florida.

Spitzer ended up as the subject of an investigation into the prostitution because his bank branch in Manhattan turned him in to the Internal Revenue Service as someone who might be engaged in suspicious currency transactions, according to the source.

The call girl at the center of the prostitution scandal that prompted Spitzer to resign in disgrace has been identified as a 22-year-old aspiring musician, Ksristen, from New York.

Kristen, the prostitute who had a rendezvous with Spitzer on Feb. 13 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, made a brief appearance in federal court. She is expected to be a witness in the case against four people charged with operating a prostitution ring called the Emperor's Club V.I.P.

Spitzer announced his resignation Wednesday, two days after news broke that he was a repeat client of a high-end prostitution ring.

The resignation became effective March 17. His deputy, Lt. Gov. David Paterson, will take over to become the state's first black governor.

Flanked by his wife, Spitzer told a press conference in his Manhattan office that he will leave public life. "I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me. To every New Yorker, to those who believed in what I tried to stand for, I sincerely apologize."

(Agencies)