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A man was recently arrested after setting up sex trafficking websites. | Pixabay

Man arrested for setting up sex trafficking websites

A man was arrested after he allegedly set up several sex trafficking websites and brought in $21 million over two years, The Mercury News reported.

Wilhan Martono, 46, is currently awaiting extradition to Texas and is being held in the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, California. When he arrives in Texas, he will face 28 federal counts, including conspiracy, racketeering, promotion and facilitation of prostitution and money laundering, the news agency reported.

The allegations against Martono state that the websites had adult public prostitution services and included ads for child trafficking victims. One ad included a 13-year-old who was rescued in November, according to the news agency. The websites also allowed for users to pick from massages to lunch dates, to other sexual acts, the news agency reported.

Martono's websites included CityXGuide and BodyRubShop and Backpage. Backpage was shut down in 2018 by the federal government.

One month after the shutdown, Martono then allegedly purchased New Backpage. The indictment alleges that Martono wanted to start New Backpage where "Backpage left off."

The websites allowed users to search for sex workers in at least 14 cities across the United States, as well as five continents, and pick from a range of services from the workers, according to the news agency.

The cities included San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento San Francisco, Las Vegas and San Jose, among others, the news agency reported.

Authorities are also working to recover an undisclosed amount of silver bullion from a Singapore business purchase.

The news agency reported that users had to pay either with Bitcoin or gift cards, which are harder to track by authorities, and the physical address was listed as an apartment in Hong Kong, while phone numbers were just directed back to the Hong Kong property management company, according to the indictment.

The U.S. Department of Justice is now working to size the contents of 12 bank accounts and Martono allegedly operated.

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