Larnaca CID arrested two women, aged 25 and 26, on suspicion of turning a Larnaca flat into a brothel, in an operation carried out in the early hours of the morning. The alleged brothel came to light by chance after Larnaca police were called to the scene at 2am, following a report of someone shouting outside the flat.
Officers who went to the scene found a 23-year-old man outside the flat. He told police he had paid for a sexual encounter with a 25-year-old woman there. When he left, he said, he discovered that €6,700 he had been carrying had been stolen from him.
Larnaca CID searched the flat and found the money hidden behind a bedside table. They then arrested both the 25-year-old and a 26-year-old woman; the two have been staying at the flat since last July.
The two women are suspected of theft, handling stolen goods, and conspiracy to commit a felony, as well as a misdemeanour offence relating to running a brothel. Both were brought before Larnaca District Court for a remand order.
Update, September 3: Family spokesman disputes allegations
A man identifying himself as Wellington Turini, a friend and authorised family spokesman for one of the two women, has disputed the allegations in a written response to In-Cyprus.
Turini said the women travelled to Cyprus as visitors and categorically deny providing or advertising sexual services. He said they also deny arranging any paid meeting with the man who reported the alleged incident to police, adding that, according to the account given to their family, the man was unknown to them and appeared at their apartment door.
Turini said neither woman created or controlled a profile on a Cyprus escort website, and that the family disputes any connection between the women’s personal money, items seized by police and the complainant’s allegations.
Turini said the family was not asking the case to be accepted without verification, but requested that both accounts be investigated and presented fairly, noting that the police investigation remains ongoing and that the eight-day detention order is not a finding of guilt. He said the family could, subject to approval from the women’s Cyprus lawyer, provide travel documentation, information on the lawful origin of the money, a family interview and contact with their legal representative.
en.philenews has not yet independently verified Turini’s identity or his authorisation to speak on the women’s behalf.
