A group that ran illegal massage and prostitution businesses out of leased studio apartments in Seoul's Gangnam district has been arrested by police.
The Gangnam Police Station said on the 19th that it had apprehended eight people on charges of operating prostitution as a business, including three operators of two establishments, one nominal owner acting as an accomplice, two women working at the businesses and clients. Police seized about 25 million won in criminal proceeds along with a cash counting machine and mobile phones, and plan to refer the suspects to prosecutors without detention on the 20th.
The suspects are accused of leasing studio units in residential areas of Nonhyeon-dong and Yeoksam-dong under other people's names, then recruiting customers and arranging prostitution. To evade police crackdowns and screen out troublesome clients, they required people making reservations to verify a mobile phone registered in their own name, then searched and cross-checked the information against a shared database maintained among such businesses. They also relied mainly on Telegram to avoid leaving traces of the arrangements.
The larger of the two businesses was found to have arranged about 2,800 instances of prostitution over roughly 40 days. Estimated criminal proceeds reached 574.6 million won. The operators lived in upscale officetels — studio units used as either homes or offices — in Gangnam and drove expensive foreign cars, enjoying a lavish lifestyle.
Police applied charges of operating prostitution as a business rather than simple arrangement of prostitution. Under the Act on the Punishment of Arranging Sexual Traffic, operating prostitution as a business carries a prison term of up to seven years or a fine of up to 70 million won, allowing for heavier penalties than simple arrangement of prostitution.
"Gangnam has a high rate of prostitution-related crime because of its heavy foot traffic and concentration of large entertainment establishments," a police official said. "We will continue to work closely with related agencies and respond actively and strictly to prostitution crimes."
