The feds on Wednesday revealed that they had busted a trio of high-end brothels outside Washington, D.C. and Boston that served a powerful clientele that included politicians, lawyers, professors, military officers, and more.
A woman and two men—Han Lee, James Lee, and Junmyung Lee—were arrested and charged with running the scheme, according to an arrest affidavit. The trio, who are not related, are accused of violating the Mann Act by flying women in from around the country to meet clients in high-end apartments for sex.
Hourly rates for services cost between $350 to $600—an amount that prosecutors characterized as a “premium” price compared to “standard rates” for commercial sex on the Eastern Seaboard.
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No clients were named by the feds but prosecutors teased that hundreds of people paid for services, and each customer was made to go through a lengthy vetting process to be approved. This included prospective customers sharing their name, email, phone number, occupation, and more to be allowed in the door.
During a press conference in Boston, Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said no charges were brought against any customers or sex workers involved in the ring. He didn’t rule out that charges may come in the future, however.
“This commercial sex ring was built on secrecy and exclusivity, catering to a wealthy, well-connected clientele,” Levy said, according to The Boston Globe. “Business was booming until today.”
Levy insinuated that the probe is far from complete, likening it to being in the first inning of a baseball game. He added that the women trafficked were predominantly Asian and that their handlers were “exploiting them.”
Among the listed occupations of alleged customers were pharmaceutical executives, business executives, scientists, accountants, students, and government contractors who possessed security clearances, the affidavit said.
A federal agent wrote in the affidavit that he believed “there are potentially hundreds of yet to be identified customers that may include other professional disciplines.”
Prosecutors said they made their bust after interviewing customers, monitoring cell phone data, digging through financial records, and conducting physical surveillance.
Two of the brothels were allegedly operated in Virginia. Those locations, in Tysons and Fairfax, are both within 2o miles from Washington. The third brothel was run in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is home to Harvard University. Some meetups also occurred in Watertown, Massachusetts, which is 10 miles west of Boston’s downtown.
