DFrankfurt prosecutors have indicted three suspected operators of a brothel network for allegedly smuggling women from China to work as prostitutes. The investigation had been ongoing since April 2022, when the authorities received tips about the activities of the accused. The intervention reserve of the State Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Police then began an investigation, which also included a tax investigation.

According to a statement from prosecutors, the indictment is the result of an extensive covert operation that revealed how the group was organized and who played which role. The findings led to searches of apartments and commercial premises and brothels in Hesse and Baden-Württemberg in the summer of 2023. Two accused were arrested. One of them, a forty-five-year-old young man from Hanau, was currently in custody. According to the State Prosecutor's Office, the Hanau District Court, which has to decide on the acceptance of the accusation and the initiation of the main proceedings, has now suspended the arrest warrant for the German citizen “against strict conditions”.

Women worked in apartments

The prosecution accuses him of being largely responsible for the network, which consisted of twelve apartments in Offenbach, Rüsselsheim, Wetzlar, Offenbach, Bergstrasse and Groß-Gerau districts, Main-Kinzig district, Baden-Baden, Stuttgart and Schweinfurt. passed. He made “important company decisions” alone. He is also accused of organizing the entry and stay of women from China to Germany. According to investigators, at least 13 women, all of whom were Chinese, did not have residence permits that would have allowed them to work in Germany. It is also said that the main defendant rented apartments, set prices, placed advertisements and took over “business matters”.

In addition to the accusation of smuggling, there is also suspicion of withholding and embezzlement of wages and tax evasion: the woman did not pay social tax for either the 13 prostitutes or the co-defendants. The damage is said to be over 1.3 million euros. Added to this are 760,000 euros of avoided sales tax and 430,000 euros of payroll tax.

The co-defendant, also aged 45, is still in custody. A Chinese national from Ulm is said to have been responsible for the communication between prostitutes and pimps, including price negotiations. He is also said to have coordinated home and hotel visits. The third accused is a 60-year-old German citizen from Rüsselsheim, whose job, according to the investigators, was to transfer to the corresponding “locations”. Two co-defendants are accused of smuggling foreigners for commercial and group purposes in ten and six cases, respectively.