A woman who ran a successful brothel has been ordered to hand over more than a quarter of million pound worth of profits.
Guoyan Ma was found guilty of five charges of controlling prostitution for gain involving women aged between 35 and 49. The women were described as “the tip of the iceberg” and a court heard on Monday that 60-year-old Ma had benefited by a total of £274,866.
The Proceeds of Crime case had been listed for a full hearing but the benefit figure was agreed out of court as was the figure of £389,685 as her realisable assets. Liverpool Crown Court heard that her assets included her home and the premises used as the brothel, cash in five bank accounts and her car, a Toyota Yaris.
Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new feature
Judge Neil Flewitt, KC ordered that she hand over the benefit figure within three months or face 30 months imprisonment in default.
Ma, of Clarence Street, Padgate, Warrington, was sentenced to 18 months in prison suspended for two years and ordered to carry out unpaid work and rehabilitation activities after being convicted in July last year after a trial.
The jury heard how the brothel provided an opportunity for Chinese women to earn money to remain in the country illegally. Ma, a naturalised British citizen, used mobile phone messaging applications to recruit women and then advertised their sexual services to men through flare messages written through the help of Google Translate.
She would arrange for the women to travel to the brothel at Pyramid Court in Warrington town centre, where men would pay the women to engage in sexual activity. The regularity and volume of the business, which would see upwards of seven visits from men a day, was described as a ‘significant’ operation, with an expectation of ‘significant financial gain’, said Simon Parry, prosecuting.
The court heard that cameras inside the property had been placed in the hallway facing the front door as well as the kitchen for Ma to see who was coming in and out of the address. There was also a variety of sexual paraphernalia in the bedrooms.
A police surveillance operation in August and September 2019 recorded women who had been employed by Ma attending and leaving the property. She was arrested the following month at the brothel.
When her mobile phones were analysed, messages dating back from 2014 to 2015 were found. These included some from her speaking to the women about weekly takings of between £2,705 and £3,135.
