The embattled nephew of Stanley Ho, a casino icon in Macau, has been facing tough times recently. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison for his crimes. The reason for this is because of the role he played in running a busted prostitution ring at the Hotel Lisboa.
The Court of First Instance, Macau, in March 2016, first sentenced Alan Ho Yao Lun. To a lot of people, the sentence appeared to be a slap on the wrist when compared to the crime he committed. He was to serve just 13 months behind bars after he was found guilty of a sexual exploitation charge.
In January 2015, Alan Ho was arrested after the police discovered a massive prostitution ring that had been running in the Hotel Lisboa. This hotel is owned by SJM Holdings, which is the parent company of the original casino operator in Macau.
The name of the prostitution ring is Young Single Ladies, and they perpetuated this crime under this umbrella for a long time before they were caught. According to reports from Calvin Ayre, they occupied more than 100 rooms on the 5th and 6th floor of the Hotel Lisboa.
They had prostitutes who acted as freelancers, and they were allowed to ply their trade in the building unhindered. They were made to pay the hotel an estimated $22,800 every year. This payment was to enable them to operate without any interference in the hotel.
Ho had already served about 14 months while he was locked up in police custody and awaiting trial. He was released when he was done serving his first sentence, but that was not the end of the case. State prosecutors believed his sentence was a miscarriage of justice, so they sought to put him behind bars one more time.
In April 2016, prosecutors filed new charges of exploiting prostitution and criminal association against Ho and 5 other people at the Court of Second Instance, Macau.
The Macau News Agency, on Monday, reported that the court took the side of the prosecutors and allowed their prayer. Hence, Ho’s sentence would be increased from 14 months to 8 years. The assistant manager for the Young Single Ladies operation, Kelly Wang, was also punished alongside Ho. Her sentence was increased to 6 years.
The other 2 defendants who were charged with Ho and Wang were handed a 5-year sentence while the other was given a 4 year and 8 months sentence, respectively.
After he was released in 2016, Ho’s whereabout has been unknown. According to some sources, it is said that he left Macau the moment he finished serving his first sentence and has not been heard of since then. It is not clear how the police want to go about enforcing his new sentence, whether a global manhunt will be launched or not.
Ho’s infamous prostitution ring was dismantled in 2015, a few months after the visit of DRC’s President Xi Jinping to Macau. The Young Single Ladies were not the only ring dismantled, there were also several high profile prostitution rings that were busted too.
This month, President Xi is expected to visit Macau once again and from the look of things, there would be more raids to come.
