Tip-off on prostitution ring leads to RM13mil cash seizure
Some of the cash which Immigration Department personnel recovered during the raid at the hotel.
KOTA KINABALU: A call to be rescued from prostitution turned out with unexpected results when Immigration Department officials found more than RM13mil at two locations.
Sources said the department received a tip-off that three Filipino women were being held at a hotel in the downtown area here and wanted to be rescued from prostitution syndicates.
They said Immigration officers found the women at a spa in the hotel and upon checking other rooms, found another 17 Filipino women being kept there as well.
As they arrested three suspected syndicate members during the raid, they also discovered the piles of cash.
Immigration officials then raided an apartment next to the hotel and found another RM1.17mil stashed there.
"Some of the cash were stuffed in envelopes and plastic bags while some were just left in the open since there were so much of it," Mustafar said.
Mustafar said part of their investigations was determining the source of the money and what it was going to be used for.
He said the rescued women were in their late teens to the 30's.
Also held was another Filipino woman who did not have any documents but was not part of the syndicate.
Mustafar said two of the suspects were locals while the other was a Filipino.
He said the department was dispatching a team from its headquarters to coordinate the case which he described as "high profile."
Mustafar said the case was being investigated under Section 13 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti Smuggling Act 2007.
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/11/25/tip-off-on-prostitution-ring-leads-to-rm13mil-cash-seizure/#5QyZFm7iYrGCllg2.99
