SINGAPORE: A woman who ran an illegal brothel under the guise of a massage parlour was sentenced to 14 months' jail after one of her sex workers lodged a police report.

The police raided the unit along Carpenter Street and found a woman scantily clothed on top of a patron, and another patron leaving.

Mo Xuekui, 44, claimed trial to three charges of procuring a woman for prostitution, managing a brothel and living on immoral earnings.

She claimed that she was just a cashier and that she had engaged her four female workers as masseuses, but they provided sexual services without her knowledge.

According to a judgment made available on Tuesday (Nov 4), Mo approached a man in November 2021 and asked if he was interested in buying over a beauty parlour that was profitable.

The business operated under a sole proprietorship, Huixia.

The man agreed and paid S$25,000 (US$19,000). He then hired Mo for a monthly salary of S$2,500 to run the business, and Huixia signed a lease with the landlord for a monthly rent of S$5,395.

The man registered an additional company, Xiao Xue, with the same address at the unit in order to hire more foreign workers.

At trial, the prosecution said the complainant, referred to only as Ms X in court papers, arrived in Singapore in December 2021.

After completing her one-week COVID-19 isolation, she was told by Mo on her second day of work to provide sexual services. Mo also showed her a bottle of condoms.

Ms X testified that the sex workers were housed in the unit, and that Mo provided the contact of a "webmaster" who would help upload "sexy photographs" and the prices of Ms X's sexual services.

Ms X said she worked as a sex worker in the unit for about a month, informing Mo three days after starting work that she did not want to provide such services anymore.

However, she had to pay Mo S$4,500 in order to leave the job and therefore she continued working to earn the sum.

She said that Mo took a cut of S$50 from each S$150 fee she took from each customer.

The two men who were at the unit during the police raid testified in court that they were given sexual services and massages at the unit.

They said they found advertisements for the massages and sexual services on a website, with prices listed for each type of service.

During the raid on Feb 7, 2022, the police found a man having sex with one of the women. They seized a detergent container with condoms in it...