Court orders bosses of brothel syndicate to hand over $14m

Five men who ran one of Hong Kong's largest vice syndicates were yesterday ordered to hand over about $14.4 million in personal assets.

Mr Justice Michael Lunn, in the Court of First Instance, granted the confiscation order and warned that failure to pay would result in more jail time. The application to seize the assets was made by the government under the organised and serious crimes ordinance.

The court previously heard that when police broke the syndicate after several undercover officers infiltrated the gang, they seized accounts that revealed the brothels had a turnover of more than $165 million between 1998 and 2002. More than 200 people were arrested in the operation, codenamed Fire Lily, on May 7, 2002.

The syndicate mostly employed illegal mainland immigrants and two-way permit holders to work as prostitutes.

Advertisements were placed in newspapers, magazines and on the internet. Customers were charged $420, with one-third of the proceeds going to the boss of the brothel.

Yesterday, six defendants, who have already been convicted and jailed, again appeared before Mr Justice Lunn.