VA brothel bust stirs national security concerns with politicians, military officers among alleged clients

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - Experts say a high-end sex ring busted by the Justice Department could now pose a threat to national security as buyers in their network included politicians, executives, military officers and government contractors with security clearances could pose a threat to national security. 

The DOJ announced the arrests of three individuals involved in the operation of the brothels, some of which were run out of apartment buildings in Fairfax and Tysons, on Wednesday. They say 41-year-old Han Lee, 68-year-old James Lee and 30-year-old Junmyung Lee — all foreign nationals — are facing federal charges. 

The alleged clients were likely captured on surveillance video and potentially more. FOX 5 spoke with a former military special operations leader Nic McKinley, who also worked with the CIA. He says those involved should immediately come clean so steps can swiftly be taken to protect national security.

"I would assume it will eventually be made public and when it does, it will cause some probably pretty significant national security implications because the question will be – obviously it was foreign nationals who were involved in this brothel, so — were they recording what was happening? Were they documenting what was happening? Were they then using that information to blackmail these politicians or government contractors or security clearance holders?" McKinley said.  

He went on to say while alleged clients may not have been targeted, the Northern Virginia area likely was targeted given its proximity to the nation’s capital.

"Honestly, it’s kind of frightening," siad Cris Mendoza, who lives in one of the apartment buildings that held a brothel. "You always here, like, about the trafficking. It’s all over the news. So, to hear that this occurred in our own apartment complex was honestly frightening." 

The two Virginia buildings that the sex ring was using as brothels were the Avalon Mosaic Apartments in Fairfax and Hanover Tysons luxury apartments in Tysons where the rent reached over $3,600.

Avalon Mosaic Apartments has been the site of an illegal sex operation before. Back in 2019, two people were arrested in connection with a sex trafficking operation.  Feng Ni, 32, and Juemin Luo, 35, both of Falls Church were arrested and charged with felony sex trafficking in that case. 

According to the DOJ, the Virginia sex ring was also running a similar operation in Boston, with luxury apartment buildings rented out there as well. 

The DOJ began investigating in July 2020 when investigators discovered posts on two websites that advertised appointments with Asian women in either greater Boston or northern Virginia.

Both websites claimed to offer Asian models who would pose nude for professional photography shoots at upscale studios and would allow "clients" to set up appointments with women listed on their websites.  

The DOJ alleges that the women were flown from city to city within the prostitution network and buyers were charged as much as $800 per hour. 

The buyers allegedly had to complete a form providing their full names, email address, phone number, employer and references if they had one to be eligible for an appointment, according to the charging documents. 

Officials say the investigation into the involvement of sex buyers is active and ongoing. They ask anyone with information to contact their local FBI office.

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3 charged with operating 'high-end' brothel network in Virginia, DOJ says

A high-end brothel network that reportedly flew sex workers in from across the country and put them up in luxury apartments in Virginia, and even required buyers to provide their employer information and references, was busted by the Department of Justice.