A Singaporean woman convicted of operating a prostitution ring in the US has been added to the US Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) "worst of the worst" criminal foreigners list, making her the third Singaporean to be named.
Jing Emtage, 54, was arrested in May 2023 along with her husband, Gerald Emtage, following an investigation that began in 2021, according to the King County Sheriff's Office in Washington.
The investigation began with a massage parlour suspected of being involved in prostitution and later expanded to nine massage parlours across four counties.
Law enforcement officers searched multiple locations linked to the couple, recovering more than US$600,000 ($768,000) in cash.
They also rescued 23 women who had been trafficked and forced to provide sexual services, authorities said.
Jing faced charges including promoting prostitution and money laundering.
In August, the Seattle office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said she was sentenced to 50 months in jail last year and was awaiting deportation proceedings.
She is currently being held at an ICE processing facility in Washington, according to The Straits Times.
The other two Singaporeans named on the DHS list are Amos Yee and Lim Seok Pheng.
Yee, who was convicted in the US of sex offences, was deported to Singapore, while Lim has been accused of money laundering.
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