Two Chinese sisters who organized a prostitution network operating in more than fifteen medium-sized French cities were sentenced on Thursday to three and two years in prison respectively by the Bordeaux Criminal Court. The two women, who lived in Creuse and the Paris region, had been tried since Monday for aggravated pimping, as were nine owners of apartments who housed the passes of prostitutes.
They were also prosecuted for aggravated money laundering and participation in a criminal association, alongside the husband of the main organizer. The court was slightly less severe than the requisitions of the public prosecutor, who had described the two sisters as “service providers” manager “from A to Z» the activity of a dozen middle-aged prostitutes who do not speak French.
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From his house in a hamlet near La Souterraine, in Creuse, Yan Hu posted ads on an escort website and rented accommodation in the provinces on Airbnb-type platforms, then in cash. This mother also organized trips and managed customer calls on several mobile phones, setting prices and meeting places.
“Worker of the immoral and illegal family business“, according to her adviser, Me Olivier Couleau, her younger sister Xiuqin Hu had come to assist her from the Paris region in her lucrative business. Yan Hu apologized on Thursday, especially to the owners involved and claimed with folded hands and tears in his eyes “a second chance“. “It’s a fair and deserved decision“, welcomed his lawyer, Me Sory Baldé who points in this file “freedom from coercion, violence or exploitation“, the prostitutes being free to change “boss“. Her husband, a carpenter, who had married her in China, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, 12 of which were suspended.
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He assured that he had no knowledge of his wife’s pimping activities, despite “the woolen stocking“in small cuts in the parental room, the use of her computer and her bank card and the incessant calls she received”7 days on 7even during family meals.
Seven owners of small apartments in Montauban, Toulon, Bergerac, Vierzon or Saint-Brieuc were also sentenced to sentences ranging from 2 to 4 months in prison and fines of around 10,000 euros. “The lure of gain has been stronger than morality“, estimated the public ministry. Two other owners were released.