GUNMA (TR) – At the opening of the trial of a Thai women who has been accused in the trafficking of multiple women from Cambodia, she said that a gang boss suggested the victims work as prostitutes, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Mar. 16).
At the Maebashi District Court on Wednesday, the woman, 44, said that Fuyuki Nakano, the 49-year-old head of the Gochoda-gumi, a gang affiliated with the Matsuba-kai, suggested that the defendant employ the Cambodian woman as prostitutes to pay back the monthly rent of 700,000.
The defendant is one of several persons arrested in January for employing seven Cambodian women, aged between 20 and 36, as hostesses without proper visas at a parlor and bar in Numata and Shibukawa cities between November 10 and December 2.
Nakano is also under prosecution for immigration violations. In February, police in Cambodia arrested a Japanese national in the case.
The Thai defendant also faces charges of using stimulant drugs. The prosecution is seeking a prison term of 30 months.
The woman manages bar Gold in downtown Numata. According to her, the charge for prostitution as suggested by Nakano was 20,000 yen, of which 15,000 yen went to the defendant and the remainder to the Cambodian woman.
The Embassy Cambodia in Japan rescued the women in early December after one of them posted a plea for help on its Facebook page.
One woman told police that she came to Japan after being lured under the guise that she would be working as a waitress earning 3,000 U.S. dollars per month. However, all of the women claim that they were working as prostitutes.