Photo has been used for illustrative purposes.

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

Five Asian men who operated a Dubai nightclub as a den for underage streetwalkers were sentenced to five years behind bars on Tuesday.

The Asian manager, supervisor, songs coordinator, waiter and accountant lured the Bangladeshi girls making use of their need for money. They brought them as dancers and instead exploited them in the flesh trade.

The manager owned the den, the supervisor was a broker between clients and girls, the coordinator was a co-broker, the waiter was the girls’ deliveryman and the accountant was the treasurer, records showed.

During questioning at the Dubai Criminal Court on May 28, they all rebuffed the charges. However, the court’s jury found them guilty and sentenced them to five years in jail to be followed by deportation.

The manager and his business partner opened up a nightclub at a hotel in Al Muraqqabat and started bringing girls from Bangladesh to work as dancers and streetwalkers after exaggerating their ages in their passports.

He was paying each girl Dhs2,000 monthly. In case one had to meet with a client, the client would pay Dhs1,500 of which the manager would take Dhs1,000 and give her the Dhs500. A source tipped police about the den.

On Mar.25 an undercover cop entered and asked for a young girl to be with. The supervisor in charge of brokering such deals showed him one aged 16. The cop paid Dhs1,500 to the accountant and went to a room. The waiter delivered her. The cop signalled to the police team. The manager upon arrest revealed that Dhs57,255, $105, SAR250 and OMR20 seized in their flat in Hor Al Anz was worth nightclub and prostitution proceeds.

The supervisor confessed to brokering deals. The coordinator confessed to aiding him. The waiter confessed to delivering girls to rooms. The accountant confessed to collecting payments and handing them to the manager.

A lieutenant said police seized 19 dancers working as prostitutes. Underage dancers were referred to the custody of the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children. The rest were deported.