Israel-Britain Prostitution Ring Uncovered

by IsraeliLawStudent | August 25, 2008 at 08:37 pm

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PETAH TIQWA -- Therese Orland (54) and daughter Katrin (28), residents of Haifa, were arrested on Monday for allegedly running a London prostitution ring, targeting young Israeli girls who recently completed military service. Through an ad in Israeli newspapers advertising work at a "Guest House" in London with a guaranteed daily salary of $1000, the pair would lure unsuspecting girls to London, forcing them into prostitution by taking away their passports, drugging them, and withholding money.

The 'Kav La'oved' workers' rights organization in Israel discovered the advertisements, and suspected that a prostitution ring was behind them. An investigation revealed a website which listed pictures and telephone numbers of each woman, along with her price. Via the website, Kav La'oved located 15 of the women, and interviewed them, uncovering the entire operation and fingering the mother-daughter pair as the ringleaders. The International Investigation unit of the Israeli Police Force cooperated with the investigation, and remanded the Orlands as they arrived at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv for their periodic visit in Israel, intended for soliciting new girls for the operation.

Police have arrested two women on suspicion of running a human trafficking ring that supplied Israeli prostitutes to London.

Therese Orland, 54, and her daughter Katrin, 28, were remanded for three days on Monday, after being arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport on Sunday as they were returning to Israel. The arrest followed an undercover investigation that lasted about a year. According to the police, the daughter was in charge of interviewing the women who responded to the ads. Those who were accepted were supplied with housing in London and a cellular telephone, so that they could be easily reached by clients. In addition, the Orlands allegedly confiscated the women's passports to prevent them from leaving Britain.

The prostitutes received 40 percent of what the clients paid, minus deductions for room and board. The remaining 60 percent went to the women running the ring.

The Orlands are suspected of human trafficking, false imprisonment, assault and theft. Police said additional arrests are expected.

This is not the first case of Israeli women being recruited to work as prostitutes overseas. In May 2007, police arrested a similar ring that had advertised overseas jobs for "pretty young women"; those women were promised high-paying jobs in Ireland, and only when they arrived did they discover that they were slated to work as prostitutes.

החקירה נגד הנשים נפתחה לאחר שבארגון קו לעובד הבחינו במודעות דרושים שהתפרסמו במקומונים והזמינו צעירות ישראליות אחרי שירות צבאי לעבוד "בבית אירוח".

מהשיחות עם הצעירות עלתה תמונה מבהילה: הן נדרשו להתחייב לעבוד בבית הזונות לפחות שלושה חודשים. מי שפרשה מוקדם יותר נאלצה לממן בעצמה את כרטיסי הטיסה שלה. עובדות שהעזו להתלונן נכלאו בכוח בבית הזונות וחלקן אולץ להשתמש בסמים.

במהלך החקירה אותרו 15 נשים, שנפלו קורבנות לסחר והעסקה בזנות, והסכימו להעיד נגד האם ובתה ואחרים השוהים בחו"ל. מהעדויות נמצאו אתרי אינטרנט בהן תמונות של הבנות ה"העובדות" ומחירן. הבת קטרין עצורה ל-7 ימים נוספים. הבוקר האריך בית משפט השלום בפתח תקווה גם את מעצרה של האם. מהמשטרה נמסר כי החקירה נמשכת וצפויים מעצרים נוספים.

IsraeliLawStudent, I like this story. It's good stuff.

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