Ashley Alexandra Dupre was a close friend of Eliot Spitzer's top financial backer

The high-priced hooker who brought down New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was a close friend of one of his top financial backers, it emerged today.

Ashley Alexandra Dupre met money-man James Chanos, 50, several years ago at a nightclub - and became so close to him she has stayed a his mansion in the Hamptons, the seaside millionaires' playground for New Yorkers.

Billionaire Chaos was even closer to shamed politician Spitzer - and has given more than $100,000 to his political campaigns. But Chanos, a hedge fund manager who Dupre calls 'Uncle Jim', insists he never introduced the Governor to the hooker. He even insisted: "I had no idea she was a high-priced call girl."

However, he admitted: "I know her. She's a nice person.

"She is one of many young ladies I have spent time with around town.

"I have had her to my home, but I never dated her and I never introduced her to Eliot Spitzer."

A friend said it was very clear they were close - and that Dupre always had her eye out for rich men in clubs. "She always said, 'You know what my favorite thing is, money.' She would hop around from rich guy to rich guy," the friend said.

But Chanos characterized his now-infamous friend differently.

"She was the type of girl at my clambakes that my housekeeper said, while everyone was out on the beach partying, she was in the kitchen helping her with the dishes," he said. "She's got her heart in the right place, but maybe not her head."

Chanos admitted that being a billionaire had its benefits.

"When you're a Wall Street guy and you go out to clubs, young girls have a tendency to find you," he said.

But Chanos insisted that the only time Dupre ever asked him for anything was in furtherance of her music career.

"She once asked me to use my influence to help her get time with a top vocal coach," he said.