Woman jailed, fined for running sex escort business after learning from Sammyboy Forum

SINGAPORE: A woman who ran a sex escort business with seven women under her was jailed for 14 months and fined S$4,700 on Thursday (Mar 26).

Eunice Leow Ye Chian, 34, pleaded guilty to five charges under the Women’s Charter, with another six charges taken into consideration.

The court heard that Leow, an event agent, decided to start an escort business to earn more income in mid-2017.

She turned to obscene web platform Sammyboy Forum to learn how to start the business, and decided to recruit Singaporean girls to work as social escorts.

They were hired to provide companionship, including sexual intercourse, to customers, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Angela Ang.

She first recruited a friend known only as Gina, before hiring more women until she had a total of seven escorts who were mostly in their 30s. She secured customers for them and notified them of job assignments on WhatsApp.

Most of the customers were Leow’s acquaintances whom she had met while working at various KTV joints, as well as friends these men recommended. She negotiated prices with customers, sending them photos of the women, before instructing customers to book hotel rooms and relaying instructions to the selected escort.

Customers were charged between S$1,000 and S$3,000 per hour, inclusive of sex, while the escorts earned between S$500 and S$2,000 per assignment.

Leow took a 20 per cent to 40 per cent cut of the total payments by customers, who transferred the cash directly to her or paid the escorts. Leow also had a partner who helped her secure customers, and the partner took a cut of the earnings.

Details of some of the social escorts’ work were revealed in court documents. A 28-year-old woman took up the job as she needed money and serviced two customers.

Leow carried on the business for about two years until July 2019, earning a total of S$108,000, averaging S$4,500 a month.

She spent most of the money on her family and herself, including expenses for cigarettes, alcohol, food and travel, the court heard.

Her illicit business came to a halt when the Specialised Crime Branch of the police’s Criminal Investigation Department received information on Leow’s crimes.

A raid was conducted at Hotel Royal in Newton Road on Jul 17, 2019, and Leow was arrested along with two social escorts.

Court documents did not indicate if any action was taken against the seven escorts.

For each charge of procuring a woman for the purpose of prostitution, Leow could have been jailed for up to five years and fined a maximum S$10,000.