Brothel owner ‘undermined integrity of Australia’s borders’, court hears
A Canberra brothel madam who set up a bogus marriage to illegally bring a woman into Australia so she could work in her massage parlour has avoided jail.
Canberra Star
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A Canberra brothel madam has avoided a custodial sentence after she arranged a sham marriage and employed illegal Thai sex workers to staff her massage parlour.
Jamaree Suksom, 58, was arrested in July last year when ACT police, Australian Border Force and WorkSafe ACT raided the Pink Girls and Chok Dee massage brothels in Fyshwick.
The two premises, containing five sex industry businesses, were shut down and five women were detained for immigration offences.
At ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday, Magistrate Bernadette Boss sentenced Suksom to an eight month suspended prison sentence after she pleaded guilty to presenting forged or false documents relating to the sham marriage.
This offence was in joint commission with a man who married a Thai woman so she could come to Australia to work in the Chok Dee brothel, owned by Suksom.
She was also handed two, three month prison sentences after pleading guilty to allowing non- citizens to work in Australia unlawfully.
As the sentences were fully suspended, she will not serve her time behind bars but must abide by a 12 month good behaviour order.
Magistrate Boss said the three offences “undermined the integrity of Australia’s borders” which was a “fundamental requirement” of a sovereign nation.
“To seek to infiltrate people into the country tends to undermine those borders and therefore the integrity of Australia’s sovereignty and … the community needs to be protected from attacks upon it.
“That attack includes allowing people to unlawfully work in this country and may also remove gainful employment from people who are lawfully seeking such employment.
“I impose a penalty to publicly denounce your conduct and hold you accountable for your choices and your actions.”
In December 2017, Suksom travelled to Thailand where she “advertised broadly that she had lucrative job opportunities in Australia”, according to a police statement of facts tendered to the court.
Police allege Suksom set up a “sham” marriage between a man and a Thai woman so she could come to the country on a visitor’s visa.
She even took the pair to the beach to stage couple photos, despite them never being in a romantic relationship.
She then instructed the man to sign a false statutory declaration stating they had met three years ago and had decided to get married so the woman could come to Australia for holidays and that he would support her.
Suksom was charged after authorities discovered the pair had only met six months earlier when Suksom introduced them.
“Their marriage was a sham intended to facilitate the entry of (the woman) into Australia so she could be employed at the brothel owned by the offender,” the facts said.
“(The man) had not given (the woman) any money. (Suksom) was aware of this as both she and (the man) were claiming a debt against her for arranging the marriage and facilitating her entry into Australia.”
Defence lawyer James Maher said Suksom had demonstrated remorse and had been assessed as a low to medium risk of reoffending.
“She does not have any desire to work in the sex industry or have any plans to operate her own business in the future,” he said.
The court heard Suksom had been born into a large, poor family with ten other children in Thailand and was forced to leave school at a young age to provide for her siblings.
When her father passed away when she was 19, she moved to Australia to seek better opportunities and initially worked in a restaurant.
An injury led to her becoming involved in the sex work industry in Brisbane when she became “desperate” to find employment.
She then moved to the ACT where she owned the legal brothel from 2014.
Mr Maher said there was no suggestion the sex workers from Thailand were being underpaid or exploited in any way.
“The defendant felt she was doing them a favour by facilitating them being able to work and earn money,” he said.
Magistrate Boss acknowledged it does not appear the women were subjected to inhumane conditions.
She took this into account as well as Suksom’s age, limited criminal history, family responsibilities and the need to achieve parity with the sentence handed to her co-accused who entered into the bogus marriage and signed the false statutory declaration.
He was earlier sentenced to an eight month wholly suspended prison sentence.