27 Feb 2007

Two Chinese women in Honolulu court over prostitution charges

10:52 am on 27 February 2007

Two Chinese women in federal custody in Honolulu are scheduled to appear today in a federal court.

Lili Zhang and Kueiling Chen Zhang and Chen were arrested in American Samoa and taken last Thursday night to Honolulu.

The two are charged with conspiring to violate the Mann Act, which bars the transportation of women across state lines for prostitution.

They will appear this morning with two other Chinese nationals, Fu Sheng Kuo and Shengji Wang, who are charged with luring Chinese women to American Samoa and keeping them against their will in a bar the defendants operated in Pago Pago village.

An FBI statement on Friday said Zhang and Chen allegedly participated "in the transportation of Chinese women traveling from China and other foreign nations into American Samoa to engage in prostitution."

Chen's husband Kuo and co-defendant Wang are also charged as part of the conspiracy and are scheduled for trial on March 28th.