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Cops Bust "Asian Fetish" Hooker Ring With Four Manhattan Brothels
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 22, 2012
Modified Oct 22, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 22, 2012
Modified Oct 22, 2012
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The police shut down a prostitution ring that used apartments on the Upper East Side, in the Financial District, and Midtown to offer Asian hookers to clients. William Thomas, 42, was arrested for promoting prostitution after he met with a client—who was actually an undercover cop.
The Daily News reports that Thomas, who lives in Fort Greene, "brazenly flaunted his stable of Asian hookers, shown posing topless and in lingerie, on the websites E4AKorea.com and E4ANY.com. In the ads, the brothels offered clients the 'girlfriend experience.' 'GFE's do multipop on an hour rate basis,' the websites tout, indicating the hooker would have sex multiple times."
Further, DNAinfo, which broke the story, says that Thomas' clientbase were apparently "'white-collar' Johns...He had roughly 25 women working for him, sources said," and also offered insight into the prostitution slang:
“NEW Midtown GFE Kgirls CHANEL, URI AND NIKKI are available T-F, 11-9 p.m.,” blared one caption beneath a half-naked woman. “They $400-hr and $200/hh ($220/hr and $180/hh for FS only) and are located in same building as Sarah and Jane at the new W 36th location."
Det. William McLaughlin decoded the meanings in court records.
“The text states that the women offer 'F/S' and 'GFE.' In my experience investigating prostitution businesses for many years, 'F/S' means 'full service' sex - i.e., sexual intercourse - and 'GFE' means 'the girlfriend experience,' which means that the woman will pretend to be the customer’s affectionate girlfriend and may engage in unprotected sex,” McLaughlin said.
The sites also boasted the high ratings from satisfied johns (link to review summary).
An undercover cop set up an appointment, and Thomas allegedly told him that the 1 Maiden Lane location was closed, but the 238 East 50th one was open (the others were at West 36th St. and East 58th Street). The News reports, "The undercover cop went up and met a Korean woman who introduced herself as 'Olivi' and told him he could kiss her but had to wear a condom during sex." The Post adds, "When the officer asked to see Japanese women, two more ladies for hire were presented. The new Japanese girls, offered up, allegedly wouldn’t engage in intercourse -- only erotic massage. 'He asked for a Japanese girl, [the Korean woman] said the Japanese girl doesn’t do full service [sexual intercourse], only massage and 'happy ending' for $100 plus $40 tip,' according to the complaint."
Thomas was released on $10,000 cash bond, while two women, Jung Lee, 28, and Rei Spain, 38, were arrested for promoting prostitution. Lee is still in custody (NYC Corrections website says there's an immigration warrant) while Spain was released without bail.
Tagged
asian fetish
brothel
hooker
manhattan
nypd
prostitution
prostitution ring
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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