Priv Porters owner was once a Hollywood madam

Michelle Berk, whose Privé Porter online company sold a record-setting Hermès Birkin bag for $298,000 last year, was a big success in her previous career, too — as a Hollywood madam.

Before she married Jeffrey Berk, her partner in Privé Porter, she was Michelle Braun, whose Nici’s Girls agency reportedly provided Playboy Playmates for Tiger Woods, Charlie Sheen, the kings of two countries and various Fortune 500 CEOs.

After being investigated and raided by the FBI, she copped a plea to two felonies — money laundering and transporting a woman across state lines for the purpose of prostitution.

“The girls and the clients were being harassed. I took the bullet for everyone,” she said in 2009. “In a way, I’m like Jesus, only prettier.” She laughed, “That’s a joke.”

Braun did six months of house detention and three years of probation, during which she launched Privé Porter, the world’s largest reseller of rare Hermès bags, with $20 million in sales last year and a five-story townhouse on Sutton Place, Maison Privée.

Jeffrey Berk returned my call to his wife, but had no comment. A friend of the couple said that Michelle’s checkered past is just a footnote in the story of her success and her comeback.

“She used to sell Playmates for money. Now she sells Birkin bags,” said one source. “It turns out there’s much more money in handbags than hookers.”

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