NEW YORK\u2014New York law enforcement authorities cracked down Thursday on a prostitution ring that they said advertised on public access cable TV, took credit cards and used text messages to market \u201cparty packs\u201d of cocaine and sex to clients.<\/p>\n
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said the gang had been under surveillance for 11 months, but authorities decided to act now in the hope of disrupting any parties that might have been in the works for the upcoming Super Bowl weekend.<\/p>\n
More than half of the 18 suspects charged in the case were under arrest Thursday, including a Long Island woman who authorities said went by the code-name \u201cBeige\u201d and was the primary ringleader. The rest were being sought.<\/p>\n
At a midday news conference, Schneiderman held up a credit card reader that he said had been used by the gang, and said investigators had so far identified $3 million worth of charges processed in connection with sex and drug sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep in mind that most johns pay cash,\u201d Schneiderman said. \u201cSo that\u2019s a staggering number for an enterprise like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Authorities said records showed that the ring set up phoney clothing, wig, beauty supply and limousine businesses to disguise payments and launder money.<\/p>\n
Many of the people involved with the organization were Asian immigrants, authorities said. In some intercepted conversations, the suspects used \u201cSoojaebi,\u201d a Korean noodle and vegetable soup, as a code-word for cocaine.<\/p>\n
Schneiderman said investigators didn\u2019t have a lot of information on the sex workers involved in the operation, because women cycled in and out, but he said that authorities considered the women to be exploited \u201cvictims,\u201d and said only their managers would face charges.<\/p>\n
The ring marketed its women in racy TV commercials that aired on late-night, adult-oriented cable access television programs, authorities said.<\/p>\n
One recent advertisement for the \u201cAsian Wave\u201d escort service featured a naked woman writhing on a bed, while an announcer promised that the service\u2019s escorts were \u201calways a treat, and always fast to your door.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ring also advertised on the Internet and communicated with repeat customers by text message, authorities said, including one sent last week boasting that the service had just \u201cupdated our girls.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNew sexy & beautiful girls R in town waiting for u,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
The attorney general\u2019s office said that after some clients were impaired by drugs, the ring would add extra charges to their credit cards, at least once exceeding $10,000 for one night.<\/p>\n
The woman authorities identified as \u201cBeige\u201d was named in court papers as Hyun Ok Yoonung, or Hyun Ok Yoon, of Woodbury, N.Y.<\/p>\n
She was arraigned Thursday night, and didn\u2019t enter a plea as she listened to proceedings via an interpreter. She was being held on $250,000 bond.<\/p>\n
Assistant Deputy Attorney General Howard Feldberg said the woman was heard on wiretaps talking about transactions and personnel, and about certain clients.<\/p>\n
Defence attorney Jae Lee said the woman is married with two young children, and that her \u201cfamily ties should count for a lot\u201d in considering her bail.<\/p>\n
Among the defendants brought before a judge were Kyung Chun Min, whose lawyer, Raymond J. Aab, called her a salaried \u201cphone-call answerer\u201d at best, and Hajoung Heath, whom prosecutors portrayed as striving to get credit-card machines and a merchant account to build her piece of the ring\u2019s drugs-and-sex trade.<\/p>\n
Heath\u2019s lawyer, Kira Treyvus, said her 39-year-old client has been in U.S. for 12 years and has an 11-year-old child and a husband who is disabled and unable to work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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