SINGAPORE : For nearly three years, a husband-wife duo ran a ring of Vietnamese prostitutes, many of whom were underage, and lived off their earnings.
For that, 42-year-old Seng Swee Meng was jailed five years on Wednesday after pleading guilty to 15 counts of violating the Women's Charter Act.
His wife, Ngo Tien, a
Vietnamese national, is still at large after she left Singapore with
their their3-year-old daughter last July.
The duo recruited the women, some of them were between 16 and 17 years old at that time, from October 2008 to August 2011.
They put the women in their Geylang apartment where Seng's wife would coach the women on plying their trade.
Throughout their stay here, the pair would also take a cut of the girls' earnings, varying between S$300 and S$700 each time.
In
addition, Seng and Ngo introduced the women to their friends, and
ordered them to provide sexual services for their friends as well.
On one occasion, they arranged for a 16-year-old girl to have sex with Seng's friend, a 52-year-old man, for S$100.
Seng turned himself in after his apartment was raided last August which saw 30 Vietnamese women being arrested.
The court heard that Seng, who is currently unemployed, became involved in vice activities through his wife.
In
his mitigation, Seng's lawyer, S S Dhillon told the court that Seng was
"reluctant to be drawn into the scheme" but assisted her eventually out
of "financial desperation".
He added that Seng was not the
mastermind as his wife made the arrangements for the Vietnamese women to
be brought into Singapore.
For receiving the women in Singapore
and living off their earnings, Seng could have been jailed up to five
years and fined a maximum of S$10,000 for each offence.
- CNA/ms
A bit of good news.
The court heard that Seng, who is currently unemployed, became involved in vice activities through his wife.
He added that Seng was not the mastermind as his wife made the arrangements for the Vietnamese women to be brought into Singapore.
When in wealth, take money...
when in trouble, shift the blame and point fingers...
watever it is, he still commit a crime...