The Department of Homeland Security has shut down two domain names involved in an online prostitution ring.
CityXGuide.com and .net, along with BodyRubShop.com bear the following image:
According to the indictment, the web sites’ operator netted more than $21 million off a suite of illicit websites promoting prostitution and sex trafficking:
Wilhan Martono, 46, was indicted on June 2 on one count of promotion of prostitution and reckless disregard of sex trafficking, one count of interstate racketeering conspiracy (facilitating prostitution), nine counts of interstate transportation in aid of racketeering (facilitating prostitution), and 17 counts of money laundering. He was arrested on June 17 in Fremont, California by Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Secret Service.
He allegedly registered the domain names for several of the sites just one day after the FBI shut down Backpage.com.
CityXGuide and its affiliated websites (Backpage.co, CAPleasures.com, and BodyRubShop.com, among others) allegedly allowed brothels, pimps, and prostitutes to post hundreds of thousands of advertisements for sexual services, which users could then filter by geography and preference.
Full details on this announcement on the DOJ web site.
