Boston cops uncover high-class sex ring where ‘Johns’ include elected officials, tech executives, doctors and lawyers

Clients paid monthly fee to access network of $350 – $600 an hour n brothels housed in posh apts in several states California

Prosecutors have charged three individuals with orchestrating a high-end brothel network in parts of Massachusetts and Virginia

Group ran a high profile prostitution ring in MA VA and CA where the women were advertised for commercial sex via multiple websites, under the guise of professional nude photo shoots

Han Lee, 41, Junmyung Lee, 30, and James Lee, 68, have all been charged and are expected to appear in court in relation to the case

Defendants were arrested on Wednesday and charged with conspiring to coerce and entice women to travel to engage in illegal sexual activity

Each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, if convicted as charged  

The group ran a high profile prostitution ring in MA VA and CA where the women were advertised for commercial sex via multiple websites, under the guise of professional nude photo shoots

Prosecutors have charged three people with running a high-end brothel network in Boston and northern Virginia. Acting U.S. Attorney Josh Levy, Wednesday, announced charges against the brothels’ alleged operators, Han Lee, 41, and Junmyung Lee, 30, of Massachusetts and James Lee, 68, of California. 
As well as locations in Massachusetts, Virginia and California being raided, the government have also seized two websites tied to the ring.  
According to feds the multi-year investigation began in the summer of 2020 and is ongoing.
Prosecutors said the multi-state vice ring had it’s Massachusetts operations in brothels in Cambridge and Watertown, as well as the City of Fairfax and Tysons Corner in Virginia.
The sex workers were primarily Asian women in both states.

All three defendants – James Lee, Han Lee, and Junmyung Lee – have been arrested and charged

The suspects Han Lee of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Junmyung Lee of Dedham, Massachusetts, and James Lee of Torrance, California, [none related], were charged with conspiracy to coerce and entice to travel to engage in illegal sexual activity.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000, according to the Justice Department.

List of high profile clientele include elected officials. Others ran the gamut of tech and pharma executives, lawyers, professors and military officers, although they are yet to be identified by prosecutors. These patrons were identified “through surveillance, phone records, customer interviews, and other investigative methods,” according to an affidavit filed in court.
Clients paid up to $600 per hour for sexual encounters with predominately Asian women who were being exploited through sex trafficking. 
Speaking at a press conference, Levy said: ‘This commercial sex ring was built on secrecy and exclusivity, catering to wealthy and well-connected clientele.
‘They are doctors, they are lawyers, they’re accountants, they are executives at high-tech companies, pharmaceutical companies, they’re military officers, government contractors, professors, scientists. 
‘Pick a profession, they’re probably represented in this case. Business is booming, until today.’
‘We’re committed to working closely with our federal, state and local partners to hold accountable the people who both ran this ring and the people who fueled the demand for this ring,’ Levy said.

Acting U.S. Attorney Josh Levy, seen here, announced charges against the brothels’ alleged operators

The three defendants, who are not related, were all arrested on Wednesday and charged with conspiring to coerce and entice women to travel to engage in illegal sexual activity. 
According to charging documents, the defendants, led by Han Lee, used high-end apartment complexes as brothels in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, and Fairfax and Tysons, Virginia. 
The defendants allegedly, leased apartments in posh blocks with rents as high as $5,600 a month, furnished them and maintained them as brothels. They also coordinated the airline travel and transportation of sex workers, the court filings said.
In an affidavit, it says that the women were advertised for commercial sex via two websites, under the guise of professional nude photo shoots.
The affidavit also shows a text message sent from a phone related to the operation in Massachusetts which includes a ‘menu’. 

Police stand guard outside the federal courthouse in Boston. The three defendants, who are not related, were all arrested on Wednesday 

Arrest affidavit shows a text message sent from a phone related to the operation in Massachusetts which includes a ‘menu of coded’ available services and the price listing

The affidavit also shows a text message sent from a phone related to the operation in Massachusetts which includes a ‘menu’.
According to the document, the ‘menu’ listed sexual services available, the hourly rate and the women available. 
The affidavit states that the term ‘BB’ is a term used in the prostitution industry to refer to unsafe sex, and that ‘GFE’ relates to a ‘Girlfriend Experience’. 
The document states that this involves a service that ‘blurs the boundaries between a financial transaction and a romantic relationship’.  

Messages from this particular the site was aimed at the Boston area, advised customers to be punctual and not to ‘knock on the door’ on arrival

Court documents indicate the defendants used money orders to conceal the transfer of funds for rent in a way that intentionally did not trip anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act alerts for suspicious money movement.
Appointments with the women were offered through two websites. Both advertised nude Asian models for professional photography, an affidavit filed on Tuesday said. Investigators say the businesses were used “as a front for prostitution.”
Potential clients were required to undergo a verification process that made them fill out a form that included their name, email address, phone number, employer and a reference, if they had one, the affidavit says.
Clients were charged approximately $350 to upward of $600 per hour and the defendant’s made them pay in cash, prosecutors said.

The prostitution ring allegedly operated three different brothels out of this apartment building in Cambridge, Massachusetts

One of the websites was focused on the Boston area, and directed customers to numerous addresses, while another was aimed at areas in Virginia. 
On the Boston website, the opening page shows a photograph of an Asian woman, with text saying: ‘Here to serve our wonderful Boston friends. Your character is in your writing.
‘Please Don’t Knock on the Door!! Be on time [sic] can’t guarantee your wasted time.’
The site also adds the height, weight and bust size of multiple Asian women who are available for appointments. 

In a similar fashion, the group are also said to have operated a unit inside this apartment building in Watertown, Massachusetts

The affidavit states that the women available on the site was updated and changed frequently. 
The group are said to have had three apartments inside one building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well another one in Watertown. 
In Virginia, the ring is said to have operated out of two apartment buildings in the city of Fairfax, and at Tysons Corner. 
The affidavit states that investigators have interviewed about 20 customers in connection with the probe since 2020.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Massachusetts filed a motion in support of denying bail application for James Lee pending trial, citing the separate affidavit filed by the case agent flagging the defendant poses a flight risk.
It states that t James Lee “has several businesses and corresponding business bank accounts in his name and in the names of his fraudulent identities,” which he is believed to have used to launder the money from the prostitution business.
This particular defendant falsified bank statements, pay stubs and driver’s licenses in applying for the leases of the apartments where the monthly rent was as high as $5,600, used as brothels.
Based on tips from cooperating sources, feds have said they believe this is not the only prostitution network James Lee is tied to.
James Lee they said, made deposits in his personal and business bank accounts since January 2020 that totaled $4.5 million. More than $550,000 of that from Covid relief funds, claimed by Lee applied who for these loans for various businesses, while in actuality he “utilized these accounts to conceal and disguise illicit proceeds of the prostitution business, in addition to possible fraudulently obtained Covid-19 related relief funds,” feds stated in an affidavit.
While agents executing a search warrant against his home did not find James Lee’s passport, feds believe that Lee since 2017, has traveled to eight different countries on 10 separate occasions, including South Korea, Brazil, Panama, Singapore, Canada and Colombia.