On Wednesday, a controversial San Francisco adult entertainment website was shut down by the FBI and the IRS for allegedly facilitating prostitution of adults and minors.
A message on Myredbook.com indicated that the website has been seized and is subject to criminal and civil forfeiture. Furthermore, it reads that, “the seizure is based on probable cause to believe that this domain name was involved in money laundering derived from racketeering based on prostitution in violation of state and federal law.”
Prior to the shutdown of the site, federal officials said that Myredbook.com purported to be an escort, massage, and strip club review provider. But, as one delved deeper into the sight, it was actually hawking advertisements for prostitutes, “complete with explicit photos, lewd physical descriptions, menus of sexual services, hourly and nightly rates, and customer reviews of the prostitutes’ services.”
According to CNN, the site was taken down as part of a sweeping crackdown on sex trafficking of minors, which has rescued 168 children and arrested 281 alleged pimps already in June. Notably, along with the blocking of the website, federal agents raided a Mountain Valley home belonging to Eric Omuro, who is the operator of Armstrong Computer Services, which owns Myredbook.com. According to NBC Bay Area, the neighbors of Omuro seemed shocked when they witnessed FBI agents removing boxes and other evidence from the residence.
The U.S. Attorney’s office specified that Omuro, also known as “Red,” and Annemarie Lanoce of Rocklin, were both arrested and charged with the use of mail and Internet to facilitate prostitution, in addition to several counts of money laundering.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.