United States v. Fu Kuo

BACKGROUND

From December 1998 through September 2006, Defendants induced women to travel to American Samoa from China, UNITED STATES v. KUO 15809 Taiwan, and Fiji to engage in prostitution for the financial benefit of Defendants. In January 2006, Wang traveled to China and recruited victims Y.H. and J.C. (collectively “the victims”) under the pretense that she would employ them to work as cashiers in her grocery store in American Samoa. Wang told them that she would arrange for their travel and immigration documents for a fee of approximately $1,875 each and would also purchase their airline tickets and secure their visas.

Y.H. and J.C. arrived in American Samoa in March 2006. Defendants immediately confiscated their passports and return tickets. The victims were taken to the Bao Lai, a restaurant and brothel owned by Kuo. The Bao Lai was a three-story structure with locks on each exterior door, making it possible to lock all doors from the outside. Wire covered all of the windows and the exterior staircase of the structure. Wire or plywood also covered most of the balcony area.

The victims were locked in and coerced to work at the Bao Lai as prostitutes,…