Feds say LV travel firm had role in brothels

Greg Tuttle

Thursday, Sept. 14, 2000 | 11:06 a.m.

An Asian prostitution ring that forced women smuggled into the United States to work in brothels across the country was a "very organized structure" that included a Las Vegas travel company, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.

Numerous brothels were set up in cities from Los Angeles to New York where five women would be rotated every 10 to 21 days, Assistant U.S. Attorney Blair Smith said during a detention hearing in U.S. District Court.

Five suspects, including two men accused of being leaders of the group, were arrested late Friday in Las Vegas by federal agents and local police following a two-year nationwide investigation dubbed Operation Jade Blade.

One woman was arrested in Southern California, and a suspect in Denver remains at large, FBI spokesman Joseph Dickey said. The FBI and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service continue to investigate the case in several other major cities, he said.

Smith said the ring appears to have set up brothels in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, New York City, Atlanta and Minneapolis.

A Sept. 5 indictment charges all the suspects with conspiracy to violate federal law, including the smuggling and movement of illegal aliens, the interstate and foreign movement of women for illegal prostitution, interstate and foreign travel in aid of prostitution and money laundering.

Bank fraud and theft charges based on the alleged use of stolen credit cards to pay transportation costs for the prostitutes as they were moved from city to city are likely to be filed later, Smith said.

At the hearing Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lawrence Leavitt ordered one of the men released on his own recognizance. A man and a woman were ordered to remain in custody pending trial, and the detention hearing for two other suspects was delayed until Monday at the request of defense attorneys.

Dat Ming Leung, 40, was released from custody despite arguments by Smith he posed a threat to the community based on four previous convictions and would likely flee to avoid trial. Defense attorney Charles Kelly told Leavitt the assault convictions were all over 10 years old, and Leung has family in Las Vegas and would not run from the charges.

As part of the conditions for his release, Leung must submit to home monitoring and cannot travel outside Clark County.

Leavitt ordered Dan Chao, 25, and Cindy Tan, 43, to be held in custody pending trial. The judge said both posed a flight risk should they be released.

Ru Xiang Zhao, whose age is unknown, and Yuk Ching Liu, 51, will return to court Monday. Tjui Ha, 45, was arrested in Rosemead, Calif., and is expected to be brought to Las Vegas to face charges.

According to federal prosecutors, Leung and Lui were leaders of the prostitution ring that used false documents to smuggle Asian women into the United States. Once here the women were forced to repay the smugglers by working in the brothels.

Ten women were arrested during the Friday night raid by the FBI, INS and Las Vegas Metro Police. Two of the women have since been released, and eight remain in INS custody facing deportation.

Smith said Wednesday Leung and Lui owned a travel business, Las Vegas Global Travel Inc., and allegedly used stolen credit cards to purchase tickets for the prostitutes as they were moved to different cities. Leung also had a business interest in a bus company, Smith said.

But a man who answered the telephone at Global Travel this morning said he does not know Leung, and he only knows Lui as a businessman who owns another travel agency.

Kwok Chun, who is not named in the indictment, said he is the owner of Global Travel and knows nothing about the government's allegations of a illegal prostitution. Chun said that Leung owns another travel business, Ocean Holiday, which offers bus tours of the Grand Canyon, but that Leung is not a partner in Global Travel.

Smith told the judge Wednesday the Ocean Holiday Bus Company is a defunct Las Vegas business, which at one time operated two buses. Kelley, Leung's attorney, said his client was employed at Ocean Holiday but was not an owner.

Tan is alleged to have run the daily operations of the Las Vegas brothels set up in an apartment building in the 4000 block of West Twain Avenue. Zhao allegedly worked for Leung and Lui, but later broke away and set up his own brothel in Las Vegas.