Lack of action on Beltway brothel scandal leaves many puzzled

Rich and powerful clients of two illegal Northern Virginia brothels have so far successfully avoided prosecution, The Washington Times has learned.

The Justice Department identified the clients of brothels in Virginia and Massachusetts last year as elected politicians, military officers, tech executives, and government contractors with security clearances, among others. 

Federal prosecutors are pursuing the operators of the brothels. Massachusetts is investigating 28 of the sex buyers, or johns, whose identities remain hidden. 

Virginia is pursuing no one. 

The commonwealth’s inaction nearly one year after the brothels’ exposure is all the more puzzling considering the greater level of activity at the Fairfax and Tysons, Virginia locations compared to their counterparts near Boston. A source familiar with the investigations estimated there were more sex customers for the brothels in Virginia than those in Massachusetts but did not have precise data. 

The disparate prosecutions raise questions about judicial fairness but also about national security concerns given the reported prominence and sensitive positions held by those who frequented the prostitution ring. 

The Commonwealth of Virginia’s prosecutors said they decided not to act on referrals from federal officials because of a lack of evidence. 

Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, a Democrat, concluded he did not have sufficient evidence to make cases against any suspected sex customers under the state’s solicitation statute, according to his spokeswoman, Laura Birnbaum. 

“We were in touch with the [state] attorney general’s office about this matter because they were looking into maybe taking [cases] as well, just from a capacity standpoint. But they also determined there wasn’t enough evidence,” Ms. Birnbaum said. “So we agreed on that.” 

The office of Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is a Republican, confirmed that prosecutors concluded there was a lack of sufficient evidence in the North Virginia cases, but emphasized that Mr. Descano had jurisdiction, not Mr. Miyares’ office. 

Ms. Birnbaum said she knew of no other Virginian authorities investigating the suspected sex customers. 

The determinations by Virginia’s Democratic and Republican prosecutors are hard to square with what federal officials have introduced in court.

The officials have supported their accusations with phone records, financial records and corroborating information provided by the patrons to the brothel operators, according to court records. Han Lee, one of the accused managers, pleaded guilty in September to running the prostitution ring, including the Virginia brothels. 

Federal prosecutors also have a phone used by the managers of the Virginia brothels to arrange for the sex buyers to engage in prostitution, according to the indictment from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. 

The U.S. Attorney’s office said in a press release on Thursday that two cell phones used for the Virginia and Massachusetts brothels each “contained over 2,800 verified customers of the prostitution business.” The statement said an additional cellphone for the Virginia sex ring was never obtained.

One client who visited the Virginia brothels used his LinkedIn profile to verify his identity to the pimps and prostitutes, according to a sworn affidavit from Homeland Security Investigations special agent Zachary Mitlitsky. The affidavit said the customer used his social media profile and a selfie photograph to help the sex workers confirm the information he submitted through the brothel’s website.  

The affidavit also includes images of text messages between the pimps and sex customers discussing various prostitutes and the prices of various services. 

Junmyung Lee, the “booker” responsible for vetting the johns and scheduling the prostitution, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to helping operate the brothels last week and faces up to 25 years in jail when he is sentenced in February.

Possible ’honeypot’?

With over 5,000 clients, many in sensitive posts, concerns have been expressed over whether the Virginia brothels had been used to steal government secrets or perhaps gather information for blackmail.

As news of the prostitution ring spread, the Beltway has buzzed with speculation that the brothels may have served as foreign “honeypots” — schemes to entice powerful johns and obtain valuable information. The brothels in Fairfax and Tysons are short drives away from the campuses of U.S. military and intelligence agencies and their contractors in Northern Virginia. 

Han Lee, the manager who pleaded guilty in September, was born in South Korea and first came to the United States in 2014, according to Mr. Mitlitsky’s affidavit. She applied for permanent residency in 2019 after marrying an American citizen. 

The indictment alleges the brothel operators bought a website and secured locations for the Virginia brothels in 2021. The operators communicated with the prostitutes over a Korean messaging application. 

Before the brothels were shuttered in 2023, a South Korean national whose identity is redacted from the affidavit visited the U.S., opened a Bank of America account and returned to South Korea, according to the affidavit. Ms. Lee was monitored using the unnamed person’s new account and was later observed sending $90,000 to a bank account in her own name in South Korea. 

Whether the prostitution ring has connections to any foreign government or transnational criminal organization is not yet clear. The federal prosecutors’ indictment said the ring’s purpose was to engage in both interstate and foreign commerce.

The Justice Department referred questions about the Virginia brothels and about national security concerns to the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, which declined to answer.

While the sex customers may avoid state charges in Virginia, federal employees may face additional scrutiny from their agencies depending on their clearance level and their access to national security information. 

The Washington area has a long history with brothels. For example, Mr. Mitlitsky identified one of the Virginia brothels as located at Unit 245 of the luxury Avalon Mosaic Apartments.

Five years ago, Fairfax police reportedly arrested two people running an earlier prostitution ring in the same apartment complex. Prosecutors have not asserted any connection between these prostitution cases. 

The U.S. government has sometimes sought to benefit from the existence of illegal brothels. Retired historian of the National Park Service Robert K. Sutton said earlier this year that American officials rewarded a German official informing on the Nazis during World War II with a trip to a Washington, D.C., brothel. 

Mr. Sutton told the “True Spies” podcast that the American officials grew concerned when police raided the Washington brothel with the German source inside. The police raid soon stopped, however. 

“It turned out there were also a lot of senators and a congressman there,” Mr. Sutton told the podcast.