Woman Sought In Prostitution Trafficking Arrested At Mohegan Sun

An Soon Kim Recognized After Being Seen On 'America's Most Wanted'


6:19 p.m. EST, January 10, 2011

MONTVILLE — A woman wanted by immigration authorities for engaging in a human trafficking ring faces federal charges after being spotted gambling at Mohegan Sun casino, state police said.

State police casino detectives found 53-year-old An Soon Kim on the gaming floor at Casino of the Earth Friday, they said.

Casino security and state police had been looking for Kim since a casino worker saw her on the "America's Most Wanted" television show Dec. 9, state police said. The slot floor manager had recognized her as a woman who frequents the casino and told Mohegan Sun security.


Detectives from the state police casino unit advised security workers to let them know as soon as she visits the casino again.

When that happened Friday, Kim was taken into custody, state police said. Casino security had alerted them that she was using her Mohegan Sun Players Club card.

Kim had $17,045 at the time of her arrest, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Kim was charged with conspiracy to: engage in human trafficking, engage in interstate transportation of women for the purpose of prostitution, transport illegal aliens, and operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business.

She also was charged with transporting illegal aliens.

Kim, appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford Monday, waived her right to hearings, according to a release from ICE. She will be transferred to New York for prosecution.

Kim operated a brothel in New York, part of an extensive network of Korean-owned brothels stretching from Rhode Island to Washington, D.C., according to a 2006 release from the U.S. District Attorney's Office. The office alleges that owners smuggled Korean women into the United States to work as prostitutes.

The owners often provided the women with false immigration documentation to get them into the country, authorities said, and would take the paperwork away to keep them from leaving, crediting whatever earnings they made against the tens of thousands of dollars they allegedly owed to the ring for being brought to the U.S.

The brothels purported to be legitimate businesses, such as massage parlors, health spas and acupuncture clinics, the district attorney's office said.

None of the sex crimes occurred in Connecticut, said state police Lt. J. Paul Vance.

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