Life sentence for madam who bought and sold 11 girls to serve karaoke customers

Today (November 28), the People's Court of Dak Lak province opened the first instance trial of a criminal case against 10 defendants who specialized in buying and selling girls to serve karaoke guests for the crimes of "Trafficking in persons under 16 years old" and "Trafficking in persons".

The leader of this group is Nguyen Thi Hoa (39 years old), residing in Tan Thanh ward, Buon Ma Thuot city.

According to the indictment, in early 2022, Nguyen Thi Hoa signed a contract to rent the NaNa Karaoke bar at 151 Y Ngong Street, Buon Ma Thuot City and then recruited female service staff.

Then Hoa rented a house at 38B Dang Thai Than Street (Tan Thanh Ward) for the employees to live and work.

When customers come to sing karaoke, Hoa arranges female staff to serve them at a price of 300,000 to 500,000 VND/staff for 2 hours of service. If the time exceeds that, customers have to pay extra.

Hoa directed male employees to recruit female employees and pick them up, manage, and supervise them, not allowing female employees to escape during work, accommodation, and daily activities.

The female employees' job is to sing karaoke and drink with the guests. Each time they serve a guest, the female employees are paid 300,000 - 500,000 VND but must give it back to Hoa.

At the end of the month, Hoa adds up the employees' money and divides it according to the ratio: Hoa gets 50% and the employees get 50%.

It is worth mentioning that Hoa deducts a portion of the female employees' income to pay the male employees from 4 to 8 million VND/person/month.

Using that trick, from 2022 to March 2023, Hoa and his accomplices bought and sold a total of 11 girls aged 15-18 in many provinces and cities across the country for prices ranging from 4 to 35 million VND.

In early October 2023, Hoa and his accomplices were discovered and arrested by the Criminal Police Department of Dak Lak Provincial Police in coordination with functional forces.

At the trial, Hoa and his accomplices admitted their crimes.

Based on the details and developments of the case, the People's Court sentenced Nguyen Thi Hoa to life in prison for the crimes of "Trafficking in persons under 16 years old" and "Human trafficking".

The remaining defendants received sentences ranging from 5 to 30 years in prison for the above crimes.