The sophisticated brothel network allegedly operating in the Boston and Washington, D.C., areas until it was busted this month likely generated upwards of $1 million in just a few years for the woman accused of running it and a co-defendant, according to a new federal court filing.
Federal prosecutors shared that and other details about the alleged prostitution ring's inner workings, including house rules for the sex workers and pictures of the ledgers that tracked the work, in a document as they moved to keep Han Lee and Junmyung Lee detained before trial. The pair are a risk of leaving the country, prosecutors said, and both agreed to be detained at a hearing in Worcester on Wednesday afternoon.
The Massachusetts residents -- Han lives in Cambridge and Junmyung in Dedham -- have been charged with a third person, James Lee, of Torrance, California, with violating federal sex trafficking law for allegedly running a secret and exclusive brothel that functioned as a kind of club, offering clients menus of women and services for meet-ups at rented luxury apartments in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, as well as northern Virginia.
Authorities have yet to name any of the clients, though U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy has said they included politicians, professors, military officers and pharmaceutical executives, among others.
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters.
Two U.S. bank accounts for Han, the leader of the operation, brought in $965,000 between December 2019 and this October, the vast majority in cash, according to the document filed Wednesday, an affidavit filed by a Department of Homeland Security Investigations special agent who reviewed the evidence. She is believed to have access to other accounts, including a South Korean one that brought in another nearly $90,000, and the accounts of her estranged husband.
"I do not believe that HAN has legitimate employment but I do believe she has made an astounding amount of money running her prostitution business over the last several years," the agent wrote in the affidavit.
More on the high-end sex ring bust
She never appeared to have legitimate work while being watched by investigators, though she claimed on two rental applications to make upwards of $9,000 as a medical director for one company and, for a South Korean manufacturing association.
Han's "financial and business record keeping was impeccable," the agent wrote, noting she stored hundreds of organized money orders in a shoebox on a shelf at her Cambridge apartment, one of nine locations searched by investigators. The shoebox was for $1,360 Louis Vuitton shoes, and she allegedly had other designer bags and shoes as well, from brands like Balenciaga, Christian Louboutin and Givenchy.
Also found in Han's apartment, according to the affidavit, were:
- condoms and lubricants in bulk
- lingerie
- UTI and pregnancy testing kits
- mouthwash
- $22,000 in cash
- ledgers and other financial records, including money order receipts
- dozens of gift cards
- sixteen cellphones
One of those cellphones was connected to a number listed on a website for the northern Virginia-based brothel, the affidavit said, and a search of one of the phones' communications described customers, services and pricing and schedules, as well as house rules.
Among the house rules were:
- "Always money first money first!!"
- "Alawys be mindful of your neighbors when you open and close the door."
- "Keeping your word is keeping everyone safe"
- "Reduce electric meters when working on heating in winter"
The account's profile picture showed a pug, one of three such dogs Han owns, according to the affidavit.
At his Dedham apartment, Junmyung, who wrote on a rental application that he was a student but is accused of working for Han, had the cellphone connected to the Boston brothel's website, according to the affidavit, along with five other phones, a Corvette allegedly bought with proceeds from the prostitution business and ledgers -- "appointment books documenting daily scheduling of women at the various brothel locations in both Boston and Virginia."
The investigation began with a tip from local law enforcement last summer, Levy has said. The people behind the alleged scheme required clients to verify their identities by sharing their driver's license photo, employer information and credit card number, as well as paying a monthly fee.
Three of the units allegedly hosting the sex ring were in one building in Cambridge, in a residential/commercial area near commuter train tracks.
Resources for victims of sexual assault are available through the National Sexual Violence Resources Center and the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673, and Massachusetts provides this list of statewide and resources for sexual assault survivors.
