Israeli women trapped by Irish pimps

Young students who replied to ad in paper offering lucrative work in sex industry in London find themselves held in Dublin for months, forced to take drugs, work in prostitution without getting paid

Itzik Saban |Published: 05.28.07 , 09:53

Dozens of Israeli women who accepted a job offer to work in the sex industry in London were flown to Ireland instead, where they were forced to take drugs and work as prostitutes without being paid.

About a year and-a-half ago, an ad was posted in Israeli newspapers offering work for women in London for 1,000 euros per day. Many students who were tempted by the proposal and replied to the ad, were invited for an interview with a woman named Angelica Sabag, 34, who holds dual Israeli-French citizenship.

Sabag met the women at a café, where she told them that the job involved sex, and that they would be paid 500 euros per day, contrary to the information published in the papers. The candidates were also asked to take nude pictures of themselves, which were later posted without their knowledge on a website operated by the pimps who employed them in Dublin.

Once a month, Sabag would take her new recruits abroad. The young students would find out only at the airport that their travel destination was not London, but rather Ireland, where prostitution is illegal.

Passports seized

Upon landing in Dublin, the women were faced with another blow: their passports were seized and they were driven to apartments were they were locked up and forced to work as prostitutes and use drugs. Several months later, the women were released without being paid. They returned to Israel but did not report what they went through to the police, apparently for fear of being exposed.

An investigation into the affair was launched only after an aid organization for foreign workers filed a complaint regarding the ad with the police. During the probe, an undercover policewoman who presented herself as a student met with Sabag for an interview. The investigation revealed that Sabag was working for a chain of pimps in Ireland.

Sabag was arrested Sunday at the Ben Gurion airport, and denied the allegations against her. The court ordered that she will be held on remand for another four days. If convicted, Sabag may face up to 10 years in prison for soliciting for prostitution.