No proof was found of criminal association or exploitation of prostitution, said the lawyer of former Executive Director of Hotel Lisboa Alan Ho, in the closing arguments of his trial on Friday, and of the other six accused in operating a prostitution ring in Hotel Lisboa, reports Portuguese news agency Lusa. The case, which began on January 8, accuses the former Executive Director of knowing of a structure, members and contacts with “rules, conditions [and] a well organised system” that allegedly exploited prostitutes working in Macau. The prosecutor on the case seeks to link Mr. Ho to a sequence of commission payments from the prostitutes operating in the hotel. Prostitution is legal in Macau but exploitation of prostitution is not, and anyone seen to ‘entice, attract or divert another person, even with the agreement of the person, towards prostitution, or that exploits prostitution of others, even with their consent’ risks a prison sentence of one to three years. According to the law the attempt is also punishable. Mr. Ho’s lawyer stated, during more than six hours of closing arguments heard, that it seemed to him that the prosecutor was, at certain steps of the case, in “another trial”. Ho is accused of 90 cases of exploitation of prostitution, of which Jorge Neto Valente said: “There has been no evidence against Alan Ho that permits his conviction.” Mr. Ho’s defence argued that since “the police were called four to five times a month” to the hotel, according to testimonies, that the authorities knew of women dedicated to prostitution operating in the hotel, which “does not constitute illegal [action]”. The lawyer also referred to a “similar case” which resulted in the accused being absolved of criminal activity and exploitation of prostitution, claiming the only difference in the current case was that the prosecution “[wants] to show that the rich and powerful can also fall.” The verdict is expected on March 17th if no delays arise.
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