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.
Location
United States · Jamaica, New York · 2005
(location generalized to protect survivors) Response & intervention
Law enforcement officials estimated that the location generated more than $1.4 million dollars a year or about $4,000 a day in revenues. Readers have contacted The Queens Courier, saying the existence of brothels, massage parlors, escort and modeling agencies, are well known in the Flushing/Fresh Meadows/Kissena Park area, and that each one has its own practices, regulations, ethnic groups, nationalities, and pricing systems. The investigation began in May 2005, when GINA KIM arranged a meeting with an NYPD detective (“the Detective”) who had participated in two earlier arrests of KIM for promoting prostitution. Suspecting that KIM might offer a bribe, the Detective immediately contacted the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau (“IAB”), which commenced an investigation and arranged to record the meeting. Since May 12, 2005, the Detective engaged in 17 recorded meetings with GINA KIM and CHAE, who paid him a total of $126,500 in cash bribes in the mistaken belief that, like Police Officers KIM and SVORONOS, the Detective would protect their prostitution activities from law enforcement.
“The women either had been smuggled into the United States or had visitor’s visas. These women are being detained in federal custody and will be interviewed to see if more serious human trafficking charges were warranted against any of them,” said Breslow.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/nye/pr/2006/2006mar9.html http://www.queenscourier.com/articles/2006/03/16/news/cover_story/news01.prt
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