Owner of sleaze pubs jailed 35 months, fined $98,000
PUBLISHED ONOctober 15, 2014 10:00 PMByRonald Loh
It is possibly one of the largest vice syndicates busted in Singapore, said the prosecution.
Fifty-five women were recruited from the Philippines to work in a chain of nine pubs to provide sexual services to pub patrons.
The man behind the operations, Ang Boon Seng, 40, a father of six young children, was jailed for 35 months for his 43 vice-related charges.
He was also fined $98,000 for seven Ministry of Manpower charges yesterday.
District Judge Lim Keng Yeow also imposed a $3,600 disgorgement payment on Ang.
His wife, Ylarde Anne Asuncion, a 31-year-old Singapore permanent resident from the Philippines, was also jailed 10 weeks for her involvement, particularly in recruiting "performing artists".
Court documents revealed that Ang had made $1.08 million in profits during the four years he ran the syndicate, with about 40 per cent of that money made illegally by providing sexual services in the joints.
ARTISTS
He opened his first pub, Tokyo Drift, in Orchard Plaza in June 2009 and had another eight by August last year.
Ang employed 55 women who worked as "performing artists" in his pubs.
Ten of them, aged between 21 and 29, were involved in the charges proceeded against him.
Before coming to Singapore, the women were told they were bound to an "utang" (which means "debt" in Tagalog), a verbal contact that needed to be fulfilled before they got paid.
In one case, the woman's "utang" was $5,600.
To pay off their debt, the women had to sell "ladies drinks" costing between $22 and $55.
The women were also told they could offer sexual services after the customers had bought a minimum number of these drinks.
Oral sex, for example, cost about $300.
Customers could also pay a "bar fine" of at least $200 to take a woman out for activities that usually included sexual intercourse.
In one case, a customer paid $1,000 to take one of the women out.
Ang and his co-accused also took measures to hide the vice activities in the pubs. While performing the lewd acts, the women would switch on smoke machines to conceal their activities.
Ang told one of his co-accused to install security cameras in and around the pubs, which transmitted live feeds to his office.
On Aug 13 last year, the police conducted simultaneous raids on Ang's nine pubs.
Ang and 67 others were arrested. He and his wife pleaded guilty in August this year.
Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Wee Hao said it was the largest vice syndicate busted in Singapore.
The couple's lawyer said in mitigation that Ang and his wife had to care for their six children.
In sentencing, Judge Lim said Ang had played a pivotal role in this syndicate that operated transnationally.
He also noted that Ang had benefitted substantially and had taken measures to evade detection.
Judge Lim, however, allowed Ang to postpone his sentence until Dec 22, when his wife finishes her jail term.
This article was first published on Oct 14, 2014.
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