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local
news
Maltese-owned Dublin brothel confiscated
by special task force
By
David Lindsay
It's a well-known fact that the Maltese entrepreneurial spirit
can never be suppressed, and tales of Maltese success in business
abroad perpetually circulate.
Further testimony to such spirit recently surfaced, with a brothel
run by a Maltese woman having been swooped down upon and confiscated
by an Irish special task force investigating prostitution in Dublin.
Within a nondescript building with a seemingly innocuous brown
door, lie three floors and a basement - each specifically designed
for the running of a brothel, which had been in operation for
some 10 years.
The house of ill repute was owned and operated by a Maltese woman,
who had purchased the house in 1990 for £50,000 and has
now reportedly left Ireland.
The Maltese Madame had substantial experience in the prostitution
business, as she had run two separate brothels in Dublin for up
to 20 years – business activities that had provided her with
earnings of £3,000 to £4,000 per month.
This particular establishment, known as The Academy, had been
in operation for at least 10 years while another brothel owned
by the same individual was widely advertised in magazines such
as The Relaxation Centre.
The Madame had furnished The Academy with beds, saunas Jacuzzis,
showers, waiting rooms and benches along the hallways – and
other paraphernalia used for the running of brothels.
Operation Gladiator, a special unit set up to investigate prostitution
in Dublin, had singled out the house as a particularly notorious
house of ill repute and, in fact, was the subject of the first
such exercise carried out by the task force.
Information collected by investigators was consequently handed
over to Dublin's Criminal Assets Bureau who moved in to search,
seize and change the locks at the brothel.
The building will now be sold by the CAB through public auction
and is expected to fetch up to £500,000.
The CAB argued in court that the premises had been purchased from
the profits of prostitution by the Maltese, who had previously
run two brothels in the Irish capital over the last
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