Indictments tied to San Francisco case
DOWNTOWN LA — A federal grand jury handed indictments on Thursday to 24 people, including one Santa Monica business owner, each charged for their roles in a human smuggling scheme.
The indictment alleges the individuals were responsible for bringing hundreds of South Korean women into the United States to work as prostitutes. The accused, who law enforcement agencies have been investigating since at least September, include Mee Suk Lee, owner of Gold Spa at 1844 14th Street, which is listed as a chiropractic clinic. They will face charges related to their alleged harboring and trafficking of women for prostitution. conspiracy. The three objects of the conspiracy are — importation of aliens to the United States for prostitution; transporting illegal aliens; harboring and concealing illegal aliens. In addition, the indictment includes new charges against several of the brothel operators for money laundering and illegal monetary transactions.
During last month's enforcement operation, federal agents arrested 18 of the suspects. A 19th defendant, Hye Sun Sin, a.k.a. "Pink", was taken into custody earlier this week. The 26-year-old was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs agents at an apartment on Rossmore Avenue in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The indictment alleges Sin operated two Internet sites, including one known as asianbedgirl.com, that offered call girl services using undocumented Korean women as prostitutes. Five of the 24 defendants remain at large and are being sought by federal authorities.
A suspect identified following the takedown on June 30 was also indicted. Mi Ae Kim, a.k.a. Ae-Kyeong Kim, age 48, allegedly owned and operated a brothel known as the 7th Spa.
Thursday's indictments stem from an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department that began at least as far back as September.
The investigation focused on a criminal network dubbed the Jung Organization that allegedly smuggled South Korean women into the United States and then provided the women to brothel operators.
The brothels were concealed behind businesses that purported to be massage parlors and "out-call service" operations. The prostitutes were allegedly managed by an underground network of Korean "taxi" services operated by members and associates of the Jung Organization. The "taxi" services coordinated the prostitutes' daily schedules and worked hand-in-hand with the brothel operators.
Affidavits filed in the case allege that the organization's ringleaders, Young Joon Jung and Ho Kyung Kim, oversaw efforts to recruit prospective prostitutes in South Korea and then arranged for them to be brought to the United States. Some of the women were smuggled into the country across the Mexican and Canadian borders. Others traveled to the United States on fraudulently obtained visitors' visas.
The women allegedly paid up to $16,000 each to be smuggled into the country. Once they arrived, the women were expected to work as prostitutes, with a portion of their earnings going to repay their smuggling debts. As part of the scheme, some of the women were allegedly transported to Northern California, Colorado and Texas to work as prostitutes.
During last month's enforcement operation, ICE took 46 undocumented Korean women into custody who were working at brothels. The women have all been designated as material witnesses and will remain in the United States until the prosecution of the case is completed.
The search warrants executed by federal agents last month in connection with the case targeted 28 locations across the greater Los Angeles area. The sites included suspected brothels and so-called human smuggling "drop houses."
The brothels were housed in a variety of businesses, including chiropractic offices, acupuncture clinics, spas, and massage parlors. So far, authorities have seized more than $1.8 million in the investigation, including cash and checks recovered at the businesses and residences, as well as bank accounts.
Pamela McGarvey, who deals with city business licensing issues, said there is no history of a business under the name of Gold Spa at any location in Santa Monica.
McGarvey said a business operated under the name of Gold Chiropractic, a chiropractic office, was operated at 1844 14th Street between Nov. 14, 2002 and May 7, 2003. Although Lee was arrested for being the owner of the alleged brothel, McGarvey said a different name was listed as the owner of the chiropractic clinic.
A complaint filed last month by the U.S. Attorney’s Office said prostitution business owners within the Jung Organization often paid chiropractors $600 to $1,500 per month, per location, for the use of their chiropractic licenses.
The complaint said chiropractors also file business tax licenses for the brothel owners and occasionally hire “sit-in” doctors to help give the business an appearance of legitimacy.
Calls to the Gold Spa were not returned. Evidence to be used in the criminal case will be based on surveillance of suspects by ICE agents and local law enforcement officials, including the Santa Monica police. Other law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation included the Internal Revenue Service, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and the Redondo Beach and Anaheim Police.
ICE representatives began a wire-tapped investigation of Jung and close associates shortly after Feb. 24. In addition, five informants, four of whom may testify, provided information to investigators they had gathered in meetings with Jung and his associates, according to the complaint.
The Los Angeles investigation is linked to an ongoing probe in San Francisco in which 29 people have been indicted. The charges in the San Francisco case include, bringing in and harboring aliens; money laundering conspiracy; conspiracy to transport female Korean nationals across state lines with intent to engage in prostitution; and conspiracy to use interstate communications by phone to engage in unlawful activity.
Two of the defendants in San Francisco have also been charged with sex trafficking for knowingly using force, fraud or coercion to cause two women to engage in a commercial sex act.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 15, 2005. Read the original PDF.