Defendant Hans Gouw was charged with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, immigration fraud, identification document fraud and money laundering. Defendant Harjanto Komala was charged with conspiring to recruit juvenile females to engage in a commercial sex act.
On April 26, 2005, the defendants pled guilty to the charges. The defendants admitted to plotting to recruit young Indonesian women and teenage girls to travel to the United States to work as prostitutes and nude dancers. The women and teenage girls would not have been allowed to leave the employment for at least a year, would have had their documents confiscated, and would have been closely monitored while living in a house under the control of Gouw, the ringleader. On May 27, 2005, defendant Komala was sentenced to one year and a day in prison and the judge ordered the forfeiture of $50,000. On September 9, 2005, defendant Gouw was sentenced to five and a half years in prison.
United States of America
Indonesia1st Instance:
Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Location: Alexandria, VA
Date of decision: Guilty plea on April 26, 2005, Sentencing hearings for the defendants in May and September 2005.
Reference: DOCKET NUMBER 1:05cr69
The women and girls were never actually brought to the U.S. because the conspiracy was discovered before they were transported from Indonesia to the U.S.
Ringleader of a human trafficking and money laundering conspiracy.
The defendant entered a guilty plea.
The defendant entered a guilty plea.
18 USC 1546
18 USC 1028
18 USC 1591
18 USC 1956
18 USC 1591
Forfeiture.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
DOJ: ww.justice.gov/archive/ag/annualreports/tr2005/agreporthumantrafficing2005.pdf
Michigan Law: http://www.law.umich.edu/clinical/HutrafficCases/Pages/CaseDisp.aspx?caseID=573
The government’s investigation into Gouw’s fraud as an immigration broker led to discovering the human trafficking conspiracy. Gouw ran a “fraud ring that authorities think allowed more than 1,000 Indonesian immigrants to file bogus asylum claims” before Gouw admitted to starting an international sex trafficking business. The plan was discovered before any women had been brought to the United States, though plans indicated that about 40 women were going to be brought to the U.S., some of whom were younger than 18.
Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/apr/27/20050427-101052-6082r/