The website CityXGuide — a prominent supply of online ads for prostitution and intercourse trafficking that users described as “taking over from where Backpage left down” — was seized and its particular owner charged in a 28-count federal indictment, announced United States Attorney when it comes to Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.
Wilhan Martono, 46, ended up being indicted on June 2 on a single count of advertising of prostitution and careless neglect of sex trafficking, one count of interstate racketeering conspiracy (facilitating prostitution), nine counts of interstate transportation in help of racketeering (facilitating prostitution), and 17 counts of cash laundering. He had been arrested on June 17 in Fremont, Ca by Homeland Security Investigations in addition to usa Secret provider
Soon after the defendant’s arrest, CityXGuide ended up being replaced with a website landing page notifying users that the web site was indeed seized because of the U.S. Department of Homeland safety pursuant to a warrant.
In line with the indictment, Mr. Martono presumably netted a lot more than $21 million off a suite of illicit web sites prostitution that is promoting intercourse trafficking. He presumably registered the names of domain for a number of for the web sites just one single time following the FBI power down Backpage, then your internet’s leading supply of prostitution and intercourse trafficking adverts.
Despite Terms of good use purportedly forbidding the ad of unlawful services that are sexual CityXGuide and its particular affiliated websites (Backpage.co, CAPleasures, and BodyRubShop, and others) allegedly permitted brothels, pimps, and prostitutes to create thousands and thousands of ads for intimate solutions, which users could then filter by geography and choice.
In communication with Mr. Martono, one of is own CityXGuide advertisers noted that the internet site ended up being “taking over from where Backpage left off.”