A BANK account linked to a Chinese prostitution ring in Northern Ireland had an annual turnover of millions of pounds, the High Court heard today.
Prosecutors also revealed up to 11 brothels were being advertised in Belfast, with others operating in Derry and Newry.
The scale of the alleged operation was revealed as a Chinese woman accused, along with a former police officer, of human trafficking and controlling prostitution was refused bail.
Ms Chen Rong (33), of Crestwood Avenue, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England, was said to have used up to five aliases, and allegedly used job advertisements in the Chinese press to recruit women to work in the sex trade.
Victims who believed they were being interviewed for posts as nannies or receptionists would travel from Britain to Northern Ireland where they would be put to work as prostitutes, it was claimed.
Details emerged after detectives involved in a UK-wide investigation stopped co-accused Simon Dempsey with two Chinese women at the Stena seaport in Belfast on May 18th.
Mr Dempsey, of East Street, Newtownards, Co Down, is a former PSNI officer who worked in Iraq for a Dubai-based security firm after quitting the force in 2004. Police believed the two women he was with were in great fear, the court heard. They had been escorted to Belfast by Ms Rong, after she met them on a train in Warrington.
Crown counsel Christine Smith claimed after arriving in Northern Ireland the women got a bus to Newry and were taken to a house where one was told she would do massages and the other would be the madam, looking after customers and money. “The prostituted victim was given provocative clothes to wear and given condoms,” Ms Smith said. “When she asked why, Helen told both victims that they would provide sex to customers if they wanted it. They were told they were being watched and they were not allowed to leave the house.”
It was claimed the women were made to work from 10am until midnight and instructed they were illegal in the country, had no status and were not allowed to speak to police. According to the prosecution, one of the victims did not leave the house for a week.
Ms Smith said Ms Rong would call once or twice a week to collect takings and pay the victim £20 if she was in a good mood. It was also alleged four cash lodgments were made at banks in Belfast on May 26th, with two deposits of more than £3,000 made within an hour of each other. “The account in which this lodgment was made has links to criminality and an annual turnover of millions of pounds sterling,” Ms Smith told the court.
Mr Justice Treacy refused bail after commenting on the strength of the evidence.