Alan Ho, the 68-year-old nephew of “God of Gambling” Stanley Ho, was arrested along with 96 alleged prostitutes and five hotel staff in a sting that reportedly broke up a multi-million dollar prostitution ring yesterday morning.
The prostitution operation apparently ran out of Hotel Lisboa, where Ho is the executive director.
The ring is believed to have made about MOP4 million (HKD3.88 million) in profit every year.
According to the Macau Daily Times, prostitutes were charged an annual MOP150,000 (HKD146,000) membership fee and a monthly MOP10,000 (HKD9700) “security fee”.
In exchange, they were offered hotels for their business activities and were allowed to seek clients in the hotel lobby, reports the SCMP.
According to the Macau police, at least 2,400 women were registered with the prostitute ring.
Of the 96 women arrested, 95 were from the mainland and one was from Vietnam.
In a raid on Saturday, the police seized RMB1 million (HKD1.25 million) in cash from 90 different places in the hotel, which supposedly represents a mere two days of prostitution earnings.
The women are said to have earned roughly HKD1,500 to HKD5,000 a day, which they were allowed to keep – that’s the least one would expect after paying over HKD260,000 a year to do business!
In 2012, the Macau government gave Ho a medal in recognition in of his contribution to the tourism industry.
We suppose 2,400 prostitutes and HKD3.88 million a year in prostitution profits is indeed quite the contribution (allegedly).
Photo: Daniel J. Prostak via Wikimedia
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