Finland Times

An international organised gang comprising three Estonian women of Russian origin and two Finnish men have been accused of being involved in flesh trade in Finland since early 2011.

 

The issue became public on Monday when the prosecution of the case began at the Pirkanmaa district court in presence of the accused, prosecution sources said.

 

The documents of the case said that the gang involving more than 50 women in prostitution conducted the flesh trading from January 2011 to March 2013 at more than 30 apartments in different parts of the country.

 

The accused rented houses at Tampere, Lahti, Hämeenlinna, Jyväskylä, Turku, Joensuu, Kuopio, Seinäjoki, Mikkeli and Varkaus during the period and the Finnish men reportedly gained EUR 300 000 profit by organising the business in Finland, according to the preliminary investigation of the case.

 

They rented every apartment at EUR 560 to EUR 600 per week and changed the places frequently to get suitable areas for prostitution and avoid police, said sources.

 Police said that the customers of the business were thousands of ordinary Finnish men.

 

The prosecutor demanded more than two-year imprisonment for each of the three women and two men for different types crimes in this connection. It also said that the money earned by the gang should be brought back.

 

The three Russian origin Estonian women are accused of involving the women in prostitution while the two Finnish men are accused of renting apartments for the business.

 

All the three women, however, denied the charges brought against them. The two men admitted their cooperation to the women but they denied their direct involvement in prostitution.

 

The court will deal the case from next week.