Runaway madam returns from Japan to serve sentence

A Taiwanese woman convicted of running a brothel in Hsinchu several years ago was sent back to Taiwan from Japan yesterday, after police and immigration authorities from the two countries succeeded in getting her to turn herself in to Taiwanese police.

The 43-year-old women, identified as Chen Mei-ling (陳美玲), fled to Japan in April 2001 after the Hsinchu Prosecutor's Office gave her a six-month jail term in June that year on charges of pandering.

Chen's was raided in February 1999 by police acting on information gained through "skin care" classified advertisements in newspapers, which were a cover for Chen's sex business, in which she made money by acting as a go-between for prostitutes and clients.

Before the Hsinchu Prosecutor's Office was able to execute the sentence against Chen for violation of the Child and Juvenile Sexual Prevention Act (兒童及少年性交易防制條例), she fled to Japan, where she tried to get a resident permit through a marriage of convenience.

Officers the Criminal Investigation Bureau located Chen earlier this month with the assistance of Japanese authorities.