Remaining suspected customers in high-end brothel case being identified Friday
By Veronica Haynes, Sera Congi
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MEDFORD, Mass. (WCVB) — Up to five more suspected clients of a high-end brothel ring are expected to be identified on Friday in the third hearing in a series that previously implicated a member of the Cambridge City Council and a prominent Boston oncologist.
Twenty-eight men are accused of using high-end brothels out of luxury apartments in Cambridge, Watertown and in eastern Virginia. Of those, 23 were identified through two previous hearings.
Federal prosecutors said the clients include politicians, corporate executives, military officers, professors and scientists who often paid a monthly membership fee, in addition to $350 to $600 more hourly for prostitution services.
In all of the cases called so far, the court magistrate found there was sufficient evidence to proceed with charges of sexual conduct for a fee against the men and advised that a summons would be issued for a later date.
The suspects identified so far on March 28 are:
Amrit Chaudhuri (Born in 1985) Mitchell H. Rubenstein (Born in 1950) During last week’s hearing, Cambridge City Councilor Paul F. Toner and James Cusack Jr., the former director of Oncology Labs at Massachusetts General Hospital, were identified among the suspects.
“I caused pain for the people I care about most. For that, I will be forever sorry. This is an ongoing legal matter and I will not have further comment at this time,” Toner said in a written statement.
Mass. General Hospital said Cusack’s employment ended in May 2024.
The suspects identified on March 21 were:
Steven Riel (Born in 1954) Nathaniel Welch (Born in 1954) Jeffrey Henry (Born in 1977) Frederick G. Rosenthal (Born in 1950) Timothy Ackerson (Born in 1978) Matthew Ellis Fulton (Born in 1960) Anurag Bajpayee (Born in 1985) Howard Redmond (Born in 1984) Paul F. Toner (Born in 1966) Paul E. Grant (Born in 1974) James C. Cusack Jr. (Born in 1960)
The suspects identified on March 14 were:
John J. Doran (Born in 1949) Kerry Hk Wu (Born in 1970) Boya Zhou (Born in 1997) David LaCava (Born in 1978) Mark Zhu (Born in 1996) Jason Zixuan Han (Born in 1995) Peter H. MacGillivray (Born in 1964) Yihong Zou (Born in 1994) Pablo Domingo Zou (Born in 1985) Jonathan P. Lanfear (Born in 1968) Pinhao Chao (Born in 1992) Patrick Walsh (Born in 1958)
In 2024, a justice on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said that the hearings for those accused of being customers should be open, affirming the decision of the clerk-magistrate, and the decision “promotes transparency, accountability and public confidence.”
In November, a media attorney explained the significance of the ruling.
“Often, these clerk hearings are held in the backrooms of clerk’s offices outside of the public’s ability to view them. This case will be an exception. They’ll be in a courtroom,” attorney Jeffrey Pyle said.
Former sex crimes prosecutor Wendy Murphy said the Supreme Judicial Court decision ensuring open court hearings is key to curbing exploitative crime.
“Most men wouldn’t do this if they thought their name might become public,” Murphy said. “It’s about making them pay with something that matters, and to these men, what matters is their reputations.”
The three people accused of operating the brothels have been charged in federal court.
In September 2024, Han Lee, the woman accused of running the brothel, pleaded guilty in federal court. Lee was sentenced to four years in prison.
Junmyung Lee, 31, of Dedham, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiracy to persuade, induce, entice, and coerce one or more individuals to travel in interstate or foreign commerce to engage in prostitution and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
James Lee, 69, of Torrance, California, was also charged in the case.
The brothel operation used websites that falsely claimed to advertise nude models for professional photography, prosecutors allege. The operators rented high-end apartments to use as brothels in Watertown and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Tysons and Fairfax, Virginia, prosecutors said.
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