Japanese man arrested in Phnom Penh for luring women into sex trade in Japan

Cambodian police have arrested a Japanese man and two Cambodians on the suspicion of persuading 10 Cambodian women into sex trade in Japan, according to the National Police website on Monday.

Fukui Susumu, 52, manager of a Japanese restaurant in Phnom Penh, and his 28-year-old Cambodian wife as well as a 34-year-old male employee were arrested last week at the restaurant on the western outskirts of Phnom Penh, the website said.

Police said Susumu and his wife lured 10 Cambodian women in August last year to work in a restaurant in Japan, lying to them that they could make between 3,000 U.S. dollars and 5,000 U.S. dollars per month.

However, when the women arrived in Japan in November, another Japanese man Kabasawa Nakare, 50, took them to work as waitresses in a restaurant in Gunma prefecture and forced them to have sex with Japanese clients, the police said.

Police added that the arrest came after seven of the women secretly contacted the Cambodian Embassy in Tokyo in December and filed a complaint to Japanese authorities for an intervention.

The victims were repatriated to Cambodia last month.

Ly Sophana, a spokesman for the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said that a court prosecutor questioned the three suspects on Monday and a formal charge against them was expected on Tuesday. Endit