She answered the phones and made appointments for clients, and Susan Bashir also maintained three business websites, according to federal investigators. Bashir vetted potential clients and handled billing. Then, she’d drive her white Cadillac Escalade from her DeKalb County home to Atlanta apartments to pick up “profits” from the business and deposit those into various banks.
The business? A three-state prostitution ring.
Bashir, 41, pleaded guilty last week to one count of conspiracy to persuade, induce, entice, or coerce individuals to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution, and one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. When she is sentenced in November, Bashir could spend up to 25 years in federal prison.
Also charged in the scheme: Jineok Kim, 38, of Watertown, Mass.; Yoon I. Kim, 36, of Haymarket, Va.; Taehee Kim, 46, of Haymarket, Va.; and Kyung Song, 52, of Lexington, Mass.
Bashir, who also goes by the name Susan Redmon, worked for the prostitution ring from at least 2013 until March, when she was arrested, according to court documents.
The illegal scheme involved multiple brothels in high-end apartments in Cambridge, Mass., Atlanta and eastern Virginia, investigators determined. Three websites, www.bostonasiandolls.com, www.exoticasiansatlanta.com, and www.redhotflowers69.com, all featured mostly Asian woman. The women advertised on the websites were moved from various cities to work as prostitutes, according to federal prosecutors.
In Atlanta, apartments in two complexes, “Tuscany at Lindbergh” and “Bricks Perimeter Center” were both used as meet-up locations for clients and prostitutes.
“Bashir’s role in the scheme involved screening potential clients that called to book an appointment and then arranging logistics for the client to meet with one the advertised women,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts posted on its website. “Bashir also updated the prostitution websites and calculated the payments for each prostitute based on the number of clients she had met with. In addition, Bashir collected the cash earnings from the women working at the Georgia brothels and made bulk deposits at ATMs, funneling the money into accounts allegedly controlled by Taehee Kim and Yoon Kim.”
Potential clients were screened — required to complete a form before they could make an appointment with the advertised women, according to court documents.
“Typically, clients are required to complete a form on the websites, allowing the organization to verify the clients’ employment,” a criminal complaint filed in March states. “After their employment is verified (usually by telephone call to the place of employment), the clients can book appointments.”
After making an appointment, clients were ordered to follow specific rules, including not knocking on the apartment door. An Asian woman would be expecting the client and opened the door, according to investigators.
“The men then removed their shoes and were escorted by the Asian female to the bedroom, where the men undressed, and were accompanied into an attached bathroom,” the criminal complaint states. “There, they were directed to use mouthwash. They showered with the Asian female; and they then returned to the bedroom engage in sex with that female using a condom that she provided. Most of the men then showered again with the Asian female and left their cash….”
Sentencing for Bashir is scheduled for Nov. 8.
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