12 women, 1 man arrested for vice-related activities in residential units at Kovan, Sembawang and Yishun

The police arrested 12 women and a man for their suspected involvement in vice-related activities in five residential units at Kovan, Sembawang and Yishun.

The suspects are aged between 23 and 46.

Officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division raided the residential units before making the arrests and seizing cash amounting to $1,560, mobile phones and related documents as case exhibits.

The 12 women were believed to be advertising sexual services via online websites and operating within the residential areas, the police said in a release.

The man who was arrested is believed to have assisted in the management of the vice activities in one of the residential units.

The police will also be carrying out investigations against the home owners.

Any person who contravenes the offence of being the tenant, lessee or occupier or person in charge of a brothel and the offence of keeping, managing or assisting in the management of a brothel under Section 148 of the Women’s Charter, Chapter 353, are liable on conviction to a fine of up to a maximum of $10,000, or up to five years' jail, or both.

In addition, any person who knowingly lives wholly or in part on the earnings of the prostitution of another person, e.g. receiving rental earnings from the prostitutes, is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years and shall also be liable to a fine not exceeding S$10,000.

The police said they will spare no effort in clamping down on online vice activities, especially those operating in the heartlands.

The police would also like to advise house owners to be diligent in ensuring that their tenants do not carry out vice activities in their units.