Sex Trafficking2006
United States US
Intercepted phone calls and the discovery of police bribes led to the demise of this trafficking ring. A wiretap of a cell phone used by Tae Hoon Kim, a Flushing-based middleman and transported, led to the discovery of the Korean owned brothels. Approximately 67 Korean women were taken into custody to be questioned on whether or not they knew they were being forced into prostitution.
Bonded Labor2009
United States US
Wun Hee Kang and Kyongja Kang, a married couple of South Korean origin who owned several nail salons on Long Island and a bar known as Renaissance in Queens, New York. In April 2003, Kyongja Kang traveled to South Korea to recruit young women to work at Renaissance. She allegedly promised them that they would be paid $40 per day, plus tips, and would not be required to have sexual relations with the customers while working at the bar. Two young women agreed to accompany Mrs. Kang back to New York, arriving on May 30, 2003. Upon arriving Mr. Kang met the cooperating witnesses when they arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport and drove the young women to a house in Flushing, Queens, where they were thereafter required to live. Mr. Kang also forced the women to surrender their passports and their return airline tickets. The women began work at Renaissance the next day, working 6 1/2 hour shifts for six days per week. The women were informed that they each owed the Kangs approximately $20,000 for various travel-related expenses, and were forced to sign promissory notes in the amount of $20,000. They were not permitted to keep their wages or tips while working at Renaissance; all of their income was taken by the Kangs and credited toward their "debt." The women were not permitted to leave the house in which they were staying without the Kangs' permission and were forced to borrow money from the Kangs when they wished to make any purchases outside the bar, thereby increasing their indebtedness. In November 2005, Wun Hee Kang and Kyongja Kang pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them. Kyongja Kang was sentenced to just over 10 years in federal prison Friday for her role in a human trafficking operation. She was also ordered to pay the two victims a total of $90,000 in restitution. As part of her plea bargain, Kang and her spouse are surrendering interest in two homes in Port Jefferson and the Renaissance Bar, as well as nail salons in Selden and Westhampton. Kang is also forfeiting $15,000 in cash and more than $50,000 in jewelry. Wun Hee Kang's sentence is unknown due to his involvement with another case involving the trafficking ring. After he was arrested, Mr. Kang admitted that he sent, Nisim Yushuvayev, an I.N.S. employee, to the Queens apartment to get one of the South Korean woman to leave the country so that she could not testify against him.
Sex Trafficking2005
United States US
With the arrest of two NYPD officers accused of accepting payoffs in cash, drinks, and prostitution services in exchange for raiding competing brothels, authorities are focusing on the extent of the brothel problem in Queens. Last week, the F.B.I., the police, the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, and Immigration and Customs agents announced the arrests of NYPD officers, Jerry Svoronos, and Dennis Kim who were assigned to the 109th Precinct, on charges of taking payoffs, both monetary and in trade, to allow the Asian brothel to flourish and protect the owners from competition. Officers Dennis Kim and Jerry Svoronos were arrested along with alleged brothel operators Gina Kim and Geeho Chae following a 10-month investigation. According to U.S. Assistant Attorney Steven H. Breslow, $800,000 in cash was found in the search of the homes and cars of Kim and Chae. On June 20, 2008, a judge delayed the sentencing of Kim after prosecutors dropped new allegations of police corruption in a Queens precinct. Ex-NYPD Officer Dennis Kim and his partner admitted accepting cash and sexual favors from a pimp in return for protecting a brothel in Flushing. Now, the churchgoing Kim could face significantly more jail time because of claims from an informant that he and other cops in the 109th Precinct planted drugs on suspects and stole cash during gambling raids.