4-12-2025 (HANOI) Prosecutors in Ho Chi Minh City have formally charged a former Vietnam Airlines flight attendant and her Chinese boyfriend with orchestrating a prostitution network involving around 200 women at an upscale karaoke restaurant, authorities announced Wednesday.
Dinh Thi Thanh Tuyen, 32, and Zhang Lei, 40, face trial later this month on charges of procuring prostitution. Five Vietnamese managers who worked under them have also been indicted. The couple allegedly transformed Tai Nguyen Fortuner II restaurant into a venue catering almost exclusively to tourists from mainland China, Malaysia, and Taiwan, where hostesses were systematically offered for paid sex using coded record-keeping and daily Telegram updates.
According to the indictment released by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Procuracy and first detailed by local media, women willing to engage in prostitution were marked in uppercase letters in a ledger and lined up separately for client selection. Fixed rates were VND4 million (US$152) for short sessions and VND7 million overnight, with selected hostesses escorted to nearby hotels.
The pair told investigators they permitted the activity to increase customer traffic but denied taking direct commissions. Police raided the restaurant and two adjacent hotels on October 17, 2023, arresting participants in the act and seizing records. All seven defendants have confessed. The case is scheduled for hearing before the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court this month, with sentencing guidelines carrying potential prison terms of up to 20 years
