Two-year sentence for proprietor of brothel motels

print this

A 49-year-old Finnish resident of Torrevieja, Spain, has been found guilty by a Finnish court of having led a major prostitution operation at the Hotel Bonanza and the Motel Syvälampi in Finland.
      Riihimäki District Court sentenced Jan-Erik Strömberg to two years in prison for charges including procurement, aggravated tax fraud, and bookkeeping offences on Thursday.
      The court found that Strömberg tried to hide his real role in the business by naming other people the owners and managers of the companies in question.
     
The crimes took place at the Hotel Bonanza in Riihimäki between 1999 and 2002, and at the Motel Syvälampi in Suomusjärvi in 2002 - 2004. In both establishments, women from Russia and the Baltic States sold sex services to men.
      In the view of the court, the sex trade was so conspicuous at the two establishments, that the employees had to know what was going on. Personnel at the Hotel Bonanza had been told that families with children should not be let in even for coffee.
      Strömberg says that he was a mere bar worker at the Bonanza, and that he knew nothing about the sex trade that might have been going on.
     
The court did not believe that an ordinary hotel worker would earn a monthly salary of nearly EUR 7,000 and would enjoy perks, such as the use of a 1995 Mercedes-Benz 420.
      Police wiretap evidence indicated that Strömberg was in a position to give orders to the company’s CEO.
      The tapes also showed that he knew in advance about prostitutes that were to arrive at the Bonanza. He also brought sex workers to the spot himself.
      Strömberg’s work was made easier by the fact that he speaks fluent Russian.
     
Strömberg claimed that he visited Syvälampi only as a customer, and that he had nothing to do with the business.
      The court did not believe the claim, because witnesses testified that Strömberg was an active participant in the motel’s corporate activities and took part in negotiations on rent in the manner of an owner.
      Some of the employees also saw Strömberg as the manager of the place.
      The court also found Strömberg guilty of having an illegal 22 calibre pistol and two gas weapons.
     
The court found that Strömberg started preparations to move his operation from Bonanza to Syvälampi after a police raid on the Riihimäki establishment in 2002.
      The Hotel Bonanza was destroyed in a massive fire on June 30th, 2002. Syvälampi opened up two days later, and the first women came to work there on the same day.
      The systematic nature of the planning, combined with the egregious nature of his actions convinced the court to sentence him to two years in prison.
     
In addition to Strömberg, six others were found guilty of procurement. Some of them were also found guilty of economic crimes.
      Five men from Helsinki got suspended prison sentences varying from five months to a year. One Espoo man was ordered to pay a fine.
      The court ordered the defendants to forfeit about EUR 300,000 in income from the operation and unpaid taxes to the state.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Police in Salo change course on brothel investigation (15.1.2006)
  Police to exclude buyers from investigation into prostitution ring (10.1.2006)

Helsingin Sanomat