On 25/8, Son Taeheum, 51, along with 5 other South Koreans and 3 Vietnamese restaurant managers, appeared before the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court on prostitution charges.
Taeheum has 12 prior convictions in South Korea for theft, assault, traffic violations, and gambling. In this case, he is accused of leading the prostitution ring, while the other defendants allegedly profited through shared revenue and commissions on alcohol sales.
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Son Taeheum (far right) and his fellow defendants in court. Photo: Binh Nguyen |
Son Taeheum (far right) and his fellow defendants in court. Photo: Binh Nguyen
According to the indictment, in 3/2023, Taeheum acquired the Goguryeo restaurant on Pham Thai Buong Street, District 7 (now Tan Hung Ward), using the wife of a Korean manager as the legal representative. He also rented The Shilla Luxury 1 hotel nearby, paying the license holder 5 million VND per month. However, Taeheum directly managed both establishments.
To operate the ring, Taeheum recruited 5 South Korean managers, each receiving a percentage of profits or commissions on alcohol sales. He also hired Le Thi Van and Le Thi To Huyen to manage the hostesses, along with cashiers who earned salaries ranging from 5 to 12 million VND per month.
The investigation revealed that Taeheum instructed hostesses to offer sexual services to customers in addition to serving drinks to increase revenue. The price was set at 3.8 million VND for an overnight stay plus 800,000 VND for the room, or 2 million VND for a shorter encounter plus 500,000 VND. These charges were added to the customer's dining bill. After the customer paid by card, the cashiers would deduct the prostitution fee and give it to the managers, who then passed it on to the customers to pay the hostesses directly.
Taeheum created a Telegram group to connect the restaurant and the hotel for booking convenience. Hostesses were required to sign in upon arrival and indicate their availability for sexual services with symbols: "0" (unavailable), "1" (overnight), "2" (short encounter). At the hotel, receptionist Khong Minh Tri arranged rooms without formal check-in procedures, only recording the hostesses' information.
On the evening of 3/10/2023, two groups of South Korean customers dined at Goguryeo, requested hostesses, and arranged for sexual services. After paying bills totaling tens of millions of VND, the women left early and went to The Shilla hotel, where 4 rooms had been booked.
Later that night, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division, in coordination with District 7 police, raided the hotel and caught four couples engaging in prostitution. During the investigation, Taeheum and his accomplices confessed to their actions.
The court will announce the verdict this afternoon.
Binh Nguyen
