Three brothel owners who exploited trafficked women in a nationwide commercial sex ring spanning more than 50 locations have been ordered to hand over more than £605,000 in criminal profits or face further years behind bars.
Chung Fu Wang, 42, of Dagenham, east London, was ordered to pay back £82,711 at Maidstone Crown Court on Monday, 29 June. His confiscation order follows earlier rulings against co-defendants Lina Wang, 45, of Cambridge, who was ordered to pay £485,565, and Yuan Hang, 40, of no fixed address, who had £37,626 seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
All three Chinese nationals face an additional 18 months in prison if the full combined sum of £605,903 is not paid within three months.
The gang ran brothels across the UK—including Kent locations in Canterbury, Chatham, Dartford, Gillingham, Maidstone, and Tunbridge Wells—forcing vulnerable victims into sex work. Some women had been brought into the country illegally and coerced into prostitution to settle family debts, while others were forced into unsafe sexual practices.
Kent Police uncovered the enterprise in 2019 after linking two brothels in Gillingham and Maidstone. A lengthy investigation relying on mobile phone data analysis traced marketing lines directly back to the ringleaders. When officers arrested Lina Wang at her Cambridgeshire home in August 2021, she attempted to conceal six mobile phones behind her back. Investigators later uncovered bank statements showing she held around £430,000. Chung Fu Wang was arrested on the same day in London, surrounded by phones and carrying bank cards belonging to the women he controlled.
Yuan Hang had surrendered to police months earlier following a search of a rented London flat. Despite having little legitimate employment history, Hang was a heavy gambler who drove luxury cars and frequented high-end retailers. All three offenders previously admitted conspiracy to control prostitution for gain, with Hang and Lina Wang also admitting possession of criminal property. They were jailed at Maidstone Crown Court in April 2025.
Detective Inspector David Godfrey said officers were determined to ensure the group could not benefit financially from their victims’ suffering. He noted that the confiscation orders would prevent the trio from living “the high life, paid for through other people’s suffering.”