[ad_1]
The boasting of a despicable female crime ring boss who smuggled prostitutes into the UK and told them to ‘look pretty’ to fund her luxury life has been revealed as she was jailed this week.
Catalina Cojocaru, 37, lived a luxury lifestyle with boyfriend Jamie Dunn, 42 as she raked in £250,000 a year running a huge prostitution ring which exploited vulnerable women for sex and smuggled them to the UK illegally.
Meanwhile her brother, who was also involved in the ring, as been on at least 12 different luxury holidays since the ring was set up including to Thailand, North Africa and the Dominican Republic.
Cojocaru played a leading role in launching a crime ring with Dunn in Northampton before expanding across the country to Nottingham and Birmingham – soon earning £20,000 a month.
Police raided her Northampton home in January 17, where they found detailed evidence of the operation and the key role she played in organising it.
Catalina Cojocaru, 37, lived a luxury lifestyle with boyfriend Jamie Dunn, 42 as she raked in £250,000 a year running a huge prostitution ring
Cojocaru and Dunn boasted about a trip to London as recently as December 2021, during which they visited expensive restaurants
A court heard Cojocaru told women to wear make up when she requested their semi-nude photographs
Cojocaru was pictured outside a luxury hotel which charges up to £562 for a double room
Dunn has shared shameless photos of their happy lives just months before their trial and sentencing – including racy snaps of his partner in a bikini
Although partners when they began their trafficking ring, the couple have now married and have two children – but now face years behind bars
Catalina Cojucaru, right, pictured with boyfriend Jamie Dunn, centre and brother Andrei Cojucaru, left. All three were part of the sex trafficking ring
She ran the day-to-day operation by sourcing women, mainly from Romania, to travel to the UK as sex workers and organising their flight and transport to a property of her choosing.
The women were then forced to engage in off-street prostitution at brothels across the Midlands.
A court heard Cojocaru told women to ‘look their best’ and, when requesting semi-nude photographs, would tell them to ‘look sexy’ and wear make-up.
Police recovered lists and text messages that showed that Cojocaru acted as the sex workers’ ‘boss’ having daily contact with them and keeping records of daily takings.
Evidence showed the women would earn up to £1,640 per day of which the gang took 50 per cent from each woman between November 2015 and January 2017.
On one day, where £900 was made by seven women, she wrote at the bottom of the diary: ‘f**k me, I’m brilliant.’
She would force the women to work long hours while taking half their earnings and using them to pay for her luxury lifestyle.
The gang exploited up to 13 women at the same time and rented four separate properties to house them.
Cojocaru told women to wear make up and ‘look sexy’ when requesting semi-nude photographs
Photos on Dunn’s Facebook page show the couple spending time together in luxury locations as recently as December 2021.
A photograph shows they stayed at The Montcalm Hotel in Marble Arch, London just before Christmas which is a luxury hotel where prices go up to £562 per night for a double room at the time of publishing.
During the same trip the couple visited Mr White’s restaurant by Marco Pierre White in Leicester Square.
Marco Pierre White was the first UK chef to be granted three Michelin stars.
The couple splash out on other luxury restaurants too – including The Point restaurant in the Haven Hotel in Poole – where main meals range from £21 to £38.
The couple have married since being arrested and have two children.
Dunn’s Facebook profile contains no reference to the crimes he and Catalina committed, but does contain plenty of holiday shots of the couple in the sun.
Dunn posted to wish Cojocaru happy birthday on December 4 last year, saying ‘Happy Birthday my amazing wife, best friend and the most patient mum on the planet. Thank you for everything you do each day to keep our wheels turning.’
Ayanna Nelson, prosecuting, told the court Cojocaru did this ‘with an expectation of substantially significant financial gain.’
On sentencing Cojocaru Judge Rebecca Crane said: ‘You exploited the labour of others for substantial financial gain and the business would have continued if it were not for police intervention.’
Cojocaru was jailed for three years and nine months at Northampton Crown Court on Tuesday (June 14).
Dunn’s role in the prostitution ring involved ensuring there was a ‘constant supply’ of women to work for him and his partner and creating online adverts – and around £11,000 was spent on advertising sexual services alone.
Dunn and Cojocaru, who lived in the posh village of Lower Harlestone, Northampton, where house prices average £900,000, were charged with trafficking women into the UK.
They both admitted two counts of conspiring to arrange or facilitate the travel of another person to the UK with a view to them being exploited for prostitution.
Dunn was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison.
Dunn’s elderly dad Martin Dunn, 74, was also involved in the plot as well as Cojocaru’s brother Andrei Cojocaru, 26.
Dunn Snr paid for airline tickets for women coming into the UK, would help collect them from airports and even financed hotels and serviced apartments.
On one day, where £900 was made by seven women, she wrote at the bottom of the diary: ‘f**k me, I’m brilliant.’
Police found lists and text messages that showed Cojocaru acted as the sex workers’ ‘boss’
A photograph shows they stayed at The Montcalm Hotel in Marble Arch, London just before Christmas which is a luxury hotel where prices go up to £562 a night
Jamie Dunn’s dad Martin, 74, was also involved in the plot and helped out with picking up the women from UK airports
Andrei Cojocaru’s job was to man the brothel phones and arrange meetings between clients and the women, direct them to the property as well as collecting the trafficked women from airports.
Andrei Cojocaru’s Facebook profile tells a story of jetting off all over the world, presumably using his earnings as a part of the trafficking ring.
Since the ring started in November 2015 he has posted about luxury holidays to the Dominican Republic, Greece, Romania, Prague, Morocco (including riding camels across the Sahara Desert), a second holiday to Greece, London, Spain, Tenerife, a second holiday to Romania, Thailand and Paris – as well as visiting Romania just months before the trafficking and exploitation ring began.
Andrei Cojocaru, 26, has shared dozens of photographs of himself on luxury holidays all over the world since the trafficking ring was set up in 2015
Cojucaru’s brother even went to Thailand on one luxury trip – while at home he was helping his sister exploit women for sex
Andrei travelled across Morocco, posting boastful pictures of his adventures in cities and the Sahara Desert
Andrei Cojucaru also went to the Domican Republic (left) and Greece twice (right)
Martin Dunn, of Northampton, was given a 12-month community order and 100 hours unpaid work for acquiring criminal property after coming into a large sum of money following a house sale.
Andrei Cojocaru, also of Northampton, was handed one year in prison, suspended for 14 months plus 150 hours of unpaid work for conspiring to control prostitution for gain.
The convictions, which were part of Operation Eton, were the first modern slavery and human trafficking charges secured by Northamptonshire Police.
Detective Inspector Carrie Powers said: ‘This was a very complex and lengthy investigation but I am really pleased that through it, we managed to secure the force’s first charges under modern day slavery legislation and to get guilty results for all four offenders.
‘This organised crime gang exploited vulnerable women with the false promise of a better life in the UK.
‘Instead, they forced them to have sex with a large number of men with no regard for their rights or welfare.
‘These women worked long hours, only to have a large proportion of their earnings taken by the gang which would then be used to fund luxury lifestyles.
‘Investigating these sort of cases may be complex but Northamptonshire Police is absolutely committed to tackling modern slavery and bringing the people who exploit vulnerable members of our community to justice.’
[ad_2]
Source link
