Russian woman arrested over suspicion of extensive pimping operation in Helsinki
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On Monday, the Helsinki District Court ordered the remanding in custody of a 41-year-old Russian woman suspected of aggravated pimping.
Police suspect the woman of providing prostitutes with apartments in downtown Helsinki over a period of more than two years. The flats are owned by the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in Finland. The prostitutes have been seeking customers in local restaurants.
According to the newsdesk of the Finnish commercial TV channel MTV-3, the extensive operation has involved as many as hundreds of women. Currently, police are investigating how the flats have ended up in the pimping operation.
Neither diplomats nor embassy staff have been resident in the apartments, nor are they suspected of being involved in the criminal activity. Consequently, the flats do not enjoy diplomatic immunity, and while conducting a search in some of the properties last Thursday, police officers apprehended several prostitutes. At least some of them are suspected of entering Finland with fake travel documents.
The Helsinki District Court has remanded some of the women with forged documents. According to Detective Chief Inspector Kari Tolvanen, the forgeries are of very high quality, which might give some information as to their origin. He did not say, however, whether any authorities are suspected of being behind the forgeries. As of Monday, no perpetrators of the forged papers had been detained.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 19.10.2004 - TODAY |
 Russian woman arrested over suspicion of extensive pimping operation in Helsinki |
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