Federal investigators have seized about $500,000 in assets they say a California woman accrued while running a Washington-area escort service for nearly 14 years. Authorities say she recruited women through newspaper and Internet ads charged up to $300 for sexual acts while working for what business records describe as a “escort/fantasy business.”

Deborah J. Palfrey of Vallejo, Calif., ran Pamela Martin and Associates until August, according to court forfeiture documents. During that time, court records said, women who worked for Palfrey in Maryland, Virginia or Washington sent $1 million in money and postal orders to a California Post Office Box registered to Palfrey. According to court records, the women sent roughly 50 percent of the money they made during 90-minute sessions with male clients in hotels, residences and offices in the Washington area.