Raid on Chinese web-chat sex ring nets 'models and actresses moonlighting as prostitutes'
Police detain Shanghai suspects who allegedly used mainland social media to meet clients and charged them up to 10,000 yuan (HK$12,000) for sexual favours, mainland media reports
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 29 September, 2015, 2:45pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 29 September, 2015, 2:56pm
Laura Zhou
[email protected]
Alleged prostitutes detained by police in Shanghai reportedly charged clients up to 10,000 yuan for sexual services. File photo: Sinopix
Chinese police have raided a social media sex ring, which allegedly involved models and actresses moonlighting as high-class prostitutes, mainland media reports
The women allegedly met clients on mainland chat websites and charged each of them up to 10,000 yuan (HK$12,000) for their sexual favours, the Shanghai Morning Post reported on Tuesday.
Three suspected prostitutes, who allegedly ran online chat groups for people who were looking for prostitutes, were arrested on September 14 and charged with organising prostitutes, police in Shanghai’s Minhang district were quoted as saying in the newspaper report.
A further six other people detained during the police raid – the first of its kind in the city – were also likely to face charges, the report added.
The alleged prostitutes in the case were mainly models and actresses, who reportedly set up fake profiles, including those of university students and airline stewardesses, which they used to earn extra income by charging men for sexual favours, the newspaper said.
They were allegedly put in contact with potential customers through other suspected prostitutes providing similar services.
Police said the suspects also allegedly paid search websites to help promote their fake profiles on social media.
Some of the women visited South Korea every few months to undergo plastic surgery, the report added.
“We thought four of [the suspected prostitutes] were quadruplets when they stood side by side, but later found out that they had gone to the same cosmetic surgery hospital in South Korea,” one policeman told the newspaper.
Clients were charged up to 10,000 yuan for sexual services, and usually met clients in five-star hotels and luxury apartments, the report said.
Some of the suspected prostitutes would fly to meet their clients and have the cost of their flights and accommodation paid for by their customers.
Police said that the suspects would also offer “jobs” to one another “if they were too busy” to meet a particular client themselves, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.
The three main suspects, who also allegedly provided sexual services, were said to have charged each of the women working as prostitutes a 2,000 yuan commission every time they met a client, police said, according to the report.
