Three accused of forcing RI women into prostitution
Three accused of forcing RI women into prostitution
Agencies, New York
Three men have been charged with forcing Indonesian women into prostitution in New York and Connecticut and threatening to hurt them if they did not cooperate.
Charges of involuntary servitude, forced labor and sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion were brought in an indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Prosecutors said Chai Hock Ng, 43, and Kian Chai Ong, 44, both of Manhattan's Chinatown, and Sadiman Tio, 32, of Brooklyn, were charged with conspiring to hold three young Indonesian women against their will and forcing them to work as prostitutes in Brooklyn and Connecticut.
Roger Stavis, a lawyer for Tio, declined to comment. Messages left on the answering machine of the lawyers representing the other two men were not returned.
In Jakarta, foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said that his office had not been informed about the case, but ensures the protection of Indonesian citizens is also a priority.
"I have to ask our office in New York, but I am sure as far as legal process goes, our government is concerned that these kind of illegal activities could develop. We will ensure the protection of the three women," Marty told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
The indictment states that the women were induced to the U.S. from Indonesia to work at New York City restaurants.
On arrival, the women were taken to brothels in Connecticut and Brooklyn, where they were forced into the sex business, the indictment alleged.
The women protested when they were told they each owed US$30,000 to one of the accused for arranging their trip to the U.S. and that they would have to repay it by working through prostitution, prosecutors said.
The indictment said the women were forced to remain at locked and guarded brothels and were threatened with physical harm if they did not obey.
The lawsuit alleges that the women were to be sold to brothels in Massachusetts and New York, but the plan was ruined when two of them escaped.
Prosecutors said the women climbed through a small window at a brothel in Brooklyn. They then phoned Tio, whose number had been given to them if they needed assistance.
The indictment alleged that Tio instead tried to return the women to the brothel, but one of the women escaped and called the police who then raided the brothel.
If convicted, the men could each face charges of 20 years or more in prison.