Traffickers sent hundreds of Thai women to US as ‘modern-day sex slaves’, indictment claims

Hundreds of women were brought from Thailand to the US and forced to be “modern-day sex slaves,” according to an indictment unsealed Thursday that charges high-level members of what authorities called a sophisticated sex-trafficking ring that concealed millions of dollars in earnings.

The indictment brings the total number of people charged to 38, making it one of the largest sex-trafficking prosecutions in the US, said Acting US Attorney Gregory Brooker. Authorities say the operation lured Thai women to the US with promises of a better life, then forced them to work as prostitutes until they could pay off often insurmountable bondage debts.

Women were rotated through several prostitution houses around the US, forced to work long hours, and “forced to have sex with strangers, even if the men were abusive,” Brooker said.

The latest indictment goes after the money — estimated in the tens of millions of dollars — as well as high-level members of the organisation, such as “house bosses”. It charges 21 people with various counts, including conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, sex trafficking by use of force or threats, conspiracy to engage in money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. It builds upon an indictment unsealed in October that charged 17 people, some of whom have pleaded guilty.

Among those charged in the latest round of indictment were Matthew Mintz, 25, Wilaiwan Phimkhalee, 38, Kanyarat Chaiwirat, 50, and Thoucharin Ruttanamongkongul, 34, all of Chicago; Mohit Tandon, 37, of Burr Ridge; and Richard Alexander, 52, of DeKalb. Phimkhalee, Chaiwirat and Ruttanamongkongul allegedly ran brothels in the Chicago area, with Phimkhalee described in the indictment as a sex trafficker.