Twelve clients of a high-class brothel network are being named and shamed in court…including one sheepish man who showed up in person.
Mark Zhu, 28, was told there was probable cause to charge him with visiting a brothel at Friday morning’s hearing in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The hearing is ongoing and Zhu is the only one of five men so-far named to have showed up in person alongside his attorney.
The others have been named Kerry Wu, John Durand and David LaCava. Zhu appeared in a smart navy suit with a green tie with a dinosaur tie pin.
The court heard how Zhu had allegedly paid $840 for two hours of unsafe sex, known as ‘bb’, with a prostitute. He remained silent throughout.
All of those named in court, including Zhu, had also expressed an interest in their ‘gfe’ or ‘girlfriend experience’ services.
Officials say this experience involves a service that ‘blurs the boundaries between a financial transaction and a romantic relationship’.
Radiologist Jason Han, 29, also appeared in court on Friday, with authorities saying he paid for one hour of ‘gfe’, according to text messages read in court.
Clerk-Magistrate Sharon Casey is overseeing the hearings and found sufficient evidence of probable cause in all of the first six defendants cases.
The remaining are due to appear before the hearing in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to determine whether they should face charges.
Prosecutors in the case have said that the accused are all successful and powerful individuals, who are public officials and captains of industry.
Mark Zhu, seen here, was told there was probable cause to charge him with visiting a brothel at Friday morning’s hearing in Cambridge
Radiologist Jason Han, 29, also appeared in court on Friday alongside his attorney
Two of the prostitutes whose wealthy and powerful clientele are set to be named and shamed by a court in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Friday morning
The brothel ring, which operated across six locations in Massachusetts and suburban DC, required extensive documentation and references from prospective clients, handing prosecutors a goldmine of information about the men who used it
A total of 28 alleged johns will appear in court over the coming weeks. The other 16 men will be hauled before a judge in Cambridge next Friday and the Friday afterwards.
All are said to have patronized a brothel ring that operated out of six luxury apartments in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, as well as DC’s suburbs, whose clientele have been described as ‘rich and powerful.’
Prosecutors say these stringent checks revealed that the brothels’ visitors included public officials, military officers, high-level government contractors, doctors, professors and CEOs.
Some of those powerful figures are now just hours away from being dragged before a court to face career and marriage-ending allegations.
Prosecutors say they paid up to $600 per hour for sexual encounters with predominately Asian women who were being exploited through sex trafficking.
This included sharing details of employment and even providing references. Those in charge of the brothels also made monthly memberships available to repeat visitors.
No details of the men’s private lives have been shared, but it is highly likely many are married, have families and are considered pillars of their wealthy communities.
Three pimps who ran the prostitution ring have already admitted their crimes after being charged in November 2023.
The original affidavit in the case said that the women were advertised for commercial sex via two websites under the guise of professional nude photo shoots.
Millions of dollars of cash and stacks of payment cards were among the items discovered when the brothels were raided by feds in late 2023 (some of the items seized are pictured above)
The original affidavit shows a text message sent from a phone related to the operation in Massachusetts which includes a ‘menu’
Four of the brothels were run out of luxury apartment buildings in the suburbs of Boston, with the city a magnet for high-powered pharmaceutical executives
The affidavit also shows a text message sent from a phone related to the operation in Massachusetts which includes a ‘menu’.
According to the document, the ‘menu’ listed sexual services available, the hourly rate and the women available.
The affidavit states that the term ‘BB’ is a term used in the prostitution industry to refer to unsafe sex, and that ‘GFE’ relates to a ‘Girlfriend Experience’.
The document states that this involves a service that ‘blurs the boundaries between a financial transaction and a romantic relationship’.
One of the websites was focused on the Boston area, and directed customers to numerous addresses, while another was aimed at areas in Virginia.
Investigators have since vowed to seek ‘accountability’ by exposing the men whose lavish spending kept the brothels open.
They sought indictments against 28 men accused of using the brothels at a court hearing in December 2023.
Another two brothels were run out of luxury apartment buildings straddling the Washington Dc-Virginia border, close to the world’s most important center of power
One of the sites seen here, which was aimed at the Massachusetts area, asked customers to not ‘knock on the door’
Predictable fury ensued as those men sought to keep the hearings closed to the public in a bid to conceal their identities.
They claimed they had a right to privacy. All face misdemeanor charges and none of the men have been arrested.
Such crimes are normally dealt with in Massachusetts by ‘show-cause’ hearings, which are usually private. That has sparked anger over a lack of transparency.
Multiple media outlets challenged requests to hold the hearings in private, with Massachusetts’ State Supreme Court ultimately ruling they should be held in public.
Those accused face a charge of paying for sex, which is unlikely to result in jail time if they’re convicted.
But advocates for the prostitutes say naming the men can help shame them and others into not paying for sex and lower the demand for sex workers, many of whom are trafficked.
