External Link/Members OnlyFour Westminster brothels busted, more Chinese arrested
Four women and two men face charges of conspiring to enslave, traffic and sexually exploit victims after four brothels were raided in Westminster.
Watches, cars and paintings worth £1 million were also seized from residential addresses in London and Gloucestershire.
The arrests were made as part of a Met Police crackdown against an organised crime group on April 22, as part of Operation Huai.
The Salvation Army said the group’s alleged victims were from China, with a smaller number of Romanian and UK nationals. The charity is providing care for the women.
Detective inspector Grant Anderson, of the Modern Slavery Investigation Team, said: “I am delighted that the many months of hard work spent putting this investigation together has resulted in the arrests of six people.”
Among those charged were:
Jie Zhang, female, 40, of Fountain Park Way, Shepherd’s Bush
Yuhua Zheng, female, 68, of Fountain Park Way
Qitao Xu, male, 31 of Bullrush Grove, Hillingdon
Giulia Manzo, female, 30, of North Kensington
Wenjing Nong, female, 32, of Tyndall Road, Leyton
Zeev Zi-Pear, male, 62, of Woodstock Road, Golders Green
They were all charged by postal requisition on Tuesday, April 6, and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, May 10.
Because of the nature of the charges, the alleged victims will be given life-long anonymity and cannot be identified.
The full list of charges are as follows:
Jie Zhang, 40 (31.07.81), of Fountain Park Way, Hammersmith and Fulham and Qitao Xu, 31 (02.01.90) of Bullrush Grove, Hillingdon, have each been charged with 13 offences:
- Possession of criminal property
- Three counts of conspiracy to hold another person in slavery
- Conspiracy to use, acquire or possess criminal property
- Conspiracy to conceal, disguise, convert or transfer criminal property
- Two counts of committing an offence other than kidnapping or false imprisonment with intent to commit a human trafficking offence
- Two counts of conspiracy to control prostitution for gain
- Three counts of conspiracy to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation within the UK.
Yuhua Zheng, 68 (07.09.52), of Fountain Park Way, Hammersmith and Fulham, has been charged with 11 offences:
-Possession of criminal property
- Three counts of conspiracy to hold another person in slavery
- Conspiracy to use, acquire or possess criminal property
- Conspiracy to conceal, disguise, convert or transfer criminal property
- Two counts of conspiracy to control prostitution for gain
- Three counts of conspiracy to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation within the UK.
Giulia Manzo, 30 (04.05.90), of Brewster Gardens, Kensington and Chelsea, has been charged with eight offences:
- Possession of criminal property
- Two counts of conspiracy to hold another person in slavery
- Conspiracy to use, acquire or possess criminal property
- Conspiracy to conceal, disguise, convert or transfer criminal property
- Conspiracy to control prostitution for gain
- Two counts of conspiracy to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation within the UK.
Wenjing Nong, 32 (27.11.88), of Tyndall Road, Waltham Forest, has been charged with seven offences:
- Two counts of conspiracy to hold another person in slavery
- Conspiracy to use, acquire or possess criminal property
- Conspiracy to conceal, disguise, convert or transfer criminal property
- Conspiracy to control prostitution for gain
- Two counts of conspiracy to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation within the UK.
Zeev Zi-Pear, 62 (09.04.59), of Woodstock Road, Barnet, has been charged with 10 offences:
- Possession of criminal property
- Two counts of conspiracy to hold another person in slavery
- Conspiracy to use, acquire or possess criminal property
- Conspiracy to conceal, disguise, convert or transfer criminal property
- Two counts of encouraging or assisting in the commission of eitherway offences believing one or more will be committed
- Conspiracy to control prostitution for gain
- Two counts of conspiracy to arrange or facilitate travel of another person with a view to exploitation within the UK.
