The owner of a Ho Chi Minh City restaurant exclusively catering to foreigners was arrested on charges of facilitating prostitution.
A police raid at a nearby hotel uncovered two couples engaged in sex work, with the women claiming to be employees of the said restaurant, Vietnamese newspaper VN Express reported.
Nguyen Hoai Thuong, 39, the owner of the Lolita restaurant in District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City, has been charged with procurement after a police raid at a hotel on Cao Ba Quat Street uncovered two couples allegedly involved in prostitution.
The women identified themselves as Lolita employees and stated they had been sent to the hotel to serve foreign clients.
According to Tuoi Tre News, a Vietnamese media outlet, officers found two Vietnamese women engaged in sexual activities with two South Korean men in separate rooms.
Following the raid, police searched the restaurant, detaining Ms Thuong and five staff members for further questioning. During the investigation, Ms Thuong disclosed that since its opening in May 2022, the establishment had offered dining and unlicensed karaoke services, as well as employed women specifically to entertain an international clientele, a strategy aimed at avoiding detection by local authorities, police said.
Sex work is illegal in Vietnam.
Employees, reportedly, received a 60 per cent commission on these services, which were provided on-site and at nearby accommodations. The going rate for these services amounted to 8 million Vietnamese Dong (about £260), authorities and media reports said.
According to the police report, the sequence of events began with a dinner at Lolita, followed by a move to a nearby hotel.
Upon her arrest, Ms Thuong admitted to acting as an intermediary between her women staff and foreign clients since the restaurant’s opening in May 2022, police said.
Authorities are continuing their investigation.
