http://m.nydailynews.com/news/crime...llar-drug-prostitution-ring-article-1.1596332
New York madam snagged in pre-Super Bowl sting allegedly offered ‘one-stop shopping’ of prostitutes, drugs
A sophisticated Manhattan-based prostitution ring that offered “one-stop shopping” and delivered both drugs and debauchery was sacked just days before the Super Bowl.
“Always a treat and always fast to your door,” Asian Wave Escorts promised in sexy come-ons broadcast on public access TV, sources said.
The ring was headed by a middle-aged madam named Hyun Ok Yoonung, a 41-year-old Korean immigrant who officials said is something of a legend in the flesh-peddling business.
“She was really the leader,” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Thursday. “This is someone we’ve heard of from other criminals, really sort of admiring the scope of her enterprise. She’s well known in this industry.”
Code-named “Beige,” the madam was arrested at her Long Island home while police were rounding up the 17 other alleged members of the ring in overnight raids.
Schneiderman said Hyun Ok Yoonung had been ramping-up efforts to tap the wallets of out-of-towners heading here for Sunday’s big game.
“They had identified people who they thought were high rollers who might be coming to New York," Schneiderman said. "They had a huge increase in their text messages to people coming in from out of town, saying, 'We've updated our girls, new and sexy girls for you.’ It was a very aggressive push.”
Several of the alleged hookers, who were reportedly charging up to $1,000-an-hour, were nabbed when police used battering rams to burst into an apartment at 990 Sixth Ave. that is just blocks away from “Super Bowl Boulevard.”
The women, who also were mostly from Korea, serviced their johns in the single bedroom, where cocaine, crack pipes and Viagra was found, officials said.
Marcus Santos New York/Daily News Ten women were led out of the precinct ahead of their arraignment. The women who allegedly sold sex were arrested Thursday — days ago, the ring's organizers sent out text messages to regular customers to inform them that 'new sexy & beautiful girls R in town waiting for u.'
“These criminals utilized apartments in residential buildings as a way of carrying out their illicit activities,” Police Commissioner William Bratton said. “They disregarded the safety and well-being of every member in those communities by providing a 'one-stop shopping' drug and prostitution ring.”
One of the tenants in the Sixth Ave. building is The King’s College, a Christian undergraduate university that houses some of its students there — and which had no idea the illegal activity was going on.
RELATED: NYPD NABS 87 JOHNS IN CITYWIDE CRACKDOWN ON PROSTITUTION
More “girls” were operating from an apartment at 207 E. 37th St., police said. And the nerve center of the operation was another pad at 148 E. 30th St.
The bust was the culmination of a yearlong probe by Schneiderman’s Organized Crime Task Force and the NYPD dubbed "Operation out of Bounds."
The ring’s specialty was called “party-packs,” which enticed johns to buy cocaine and other drugs along with sex, which were either delivered or supplied on the spot by the hookers.
In some cases, officials said, the greedy ring leaders took advantage of their wasted customers by flooding their rooms with prostitutes and charging them upward of $10,000 for a single booking.
Using undercover investigators, Schneiderman’s office infiltrated the ring and used surveillance and detectives who specialize in tracking business records to build their case.
They soon discovered that Hyun Ok Yoonung was running a sophisticated operation divided into three groups. She herself headed the “Butterfly Group,” the complaint states.
Carolyn Kaster/AP Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has vowed that his office will continue to hunt 'networks of criminals who exploit women and poison our communities for profit.'
Her chief co-conspirators were identified in the documents as Young Ok Tae, code named “Tae,” and Kyung Chun Min, code named “Nicky.”
Two other alleged hooker bookers were identified as Hyojung Sun Lee Ahn, code named “Sarah,” and Young Mi Lee, aka “Jasmine.”
The gang’s “Gold VIP group" was led by Ha Joung Heath, aka “Dada,” and the head of the “Jackie group” was identified as Kyong Bin Cho, the papers state.
The drugs were allegedly supplied by Tony Yoo and Joseph Landrum, who used codes names, authorities said.
“Cocaine was referred to as ‘jewelry' or 'Soojaebi,' which is a Korean noodle and vegetables soup,” said Schneiderman.
RELATED: SUPER BOWL XLVIII: SEX TRAFFICKERS TARGETED IN COUNTDOWN TO BIG GAME
Nine alleged prostitutes were also busted. Their names are Young Mi Park, Jung Hee Jang, Hai Ming Quan, Nina Kim, Hada Jang, He Jung Chern, Ji Young Moon, Janice H. Lee and Sun Lee Ahn.
All 18 are charged with conspiracy and several "underlying crimes," including narcotics sales, promoting prostitution and money laundering, the AG's office said.
Schneiderman said the flesh-peddlers rigged it so that customers could pay by credit card.
Marcus Santos New York/Daily News One of the women wore Hello Kitty pajamas as they were hauled away.
“These people had a phony clothes wholesaler, a phony wig wholesaler, a limo service and a dating service that would show up on people’s credit card bills,” Schnidermann said. “They used these businesses to hide their illegal transactions and launder millions of dollars in proceeds.”
New York madam snagged in pre-Super Bowl sting allegedly offered ‘one-stop shopping’ of prostitutes, drugs
A sophisticated Manhattan-based prostitution ring that offered “one-stop shopping” and delivered both drugs and debauchery was sacked just days before the Super Bowl.
“Always a treat and always fast to your door,” Asian Wave Escorts promised in sexy come-ons broadcast on public access TV, sources said.
The ring was headed by a middle-aged madam named Hyun Ok Yoonung, a 41-year-old Korean immigrant who officials said is something of a legend in the flesh-peddling business.
“She was really the leader,” Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Thursday. “This is someone we’ve heard of from other criminals, really sort of admiring the scope of her enterprise. She’s well known in this industry.”
Code-named “Beige,” the madam was arrested at her Long Island home while police were rounding up the 17 other alleged members of the ring in overnight raids.
Schneiderman said Hyun Ok Yoonung had been ramping-up efforts to tap the wallets of out-of-towners heading here for Sunday’s big game.
“They had identified people who they thought were high rollers who might be coming to New York," Schneiderman said. "They had a huge increase in their text messages to people coming in from out of town, saying, 'We've updated our girls, new and sexy girls for you.’ It was a very aggressive push.”
Several of the alleged hookers, who were reportedly charging up to $1,000-an-hour, were nabbed when police used battering rams to burst into an apartment at 990 Sixth Ave. that is just blocks away from “Super Bowl Boulevard.”
The women, who also were mostly from Korea, serviced their johns in the single bedroom, where cocaine, crack pipes and Viagra was found, officials said.
Marcus Santos New York/Daily News Ten women were led out of the precinct ahead of their arraignment. The women who allegedly sold sex were arrested Thursday — days ago, the ring's organizers sent out text messages to regular customers to inform them that 'new sexy & beautiful girls R in town waiting for u.'
“These criminals utilized apartments in residential buildings as a way of carrying out their illicit activities,” Police Commissioner William Bratton said. “They disregarded the safety and well-being of every member in those communities by providing a 'one-stop shopping' drug and prostitution ring.”
One of the tenants in the Sixth Ave. building is The King’s College, a Christian undergraduate university that houses some of its students there — and which had no idea the illegal activity was going on.
RELATED: NYPD NABS 87 JOHNS IN CITYWIDE CRACKDOWN ON PROSTITUTION
More “girls” were operating from an apartment at 207 E. 37th St., police said. And the nerve center of the operation was another pad at 148 E. 30th St.
The bust was the culmination of a yearlong probe by Schneiderman’s Organized Crime Task Force and the NYPD dubbed "Operation out of Bounds."
The ring’s specialty was called “party-packs,” which enticed johns to buy cocaine and other drugs along with sex, which were either delivered or supplied on the spot by the hookers.
In some cases, officials said, the greedy ring leaders took advantage of their wasted customers by flooding their rooms with prostitutes and charging them upward of $10,000 for a single booking.
Using undercover investigators, Schneiderman’s office infiltrated the ring and used surveillance and detectives who specialize in tracking business records to build their case.
They soon discovered that Hyun Ok Yoonung was running a sophisticated operation divided into three groups. She herself headed the “Butterfly Group,” the complaint states.
Carolyn Kaster/AP Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has vowed that his office will continue to hunt 'networks of criminals who exploit women and poison our communities for profit.'
Her chief co-conspirators were identified in the documents as Young Ok Tae, code named “Tae,” and Kyung Chun Min, code named “Nicky.”
Two other alleged hooker bookers were identified as Hyojung Sun Lee Ahn, code named “Sarah,” and Young Mi Lee, aka “Jasmine.”
The gang’s “Gold VIP group" was led by Ha Joung Heath, aka “Dada,” and the head of the “Jackie group” was identified as Kyong Bin Cho, the papers state.
The drugs were allegedly supplied by Tony Yoo and Joseph Landrum, who used codes names, authorities said.
“Cocaine was referred to as ‘jewelry' or 'Soojaebi,' which is a Korean noodle and vegetables soup,” said Schneiderman.
RELATED: SUPER BOWL XLVIII: SEX TRAFFICKERS TARGETED IN COUNTDOWN TO BIG GAME
Nine alleged prostitutes were also busted. Their names are Young Mi Park, Jung Hee Jang, Hai Ming Quan, Nina Kim, Hada Jang, He Jung Chern, Ji Young Moon, Janice H. Lee and Sun Lee Ahn.
All 18 are charged with conspiracy and several "underlying crimes," including narcotics sales, promoting prostitution and money laundering, the AG's office said.
Schneiderman said the flesh-peddlers rigged it so that customers could pay by credit card.
Marcus Santos New York/Daily News One of the women wore Hello Kitty pajamas as they were hauled away.
“These people had a phony clothes wholesaler, a phony wig wholesaler, a limo service and a dating service that would show up on people’s credit card bills,” Schnidermann said. “They used these businesses to hide their illegal transactions and launder millions of dollars in proceeds.”
