FIVE men and a woman who conspired to transport young women from Romania into East Lancashire to work as prostitutes have been warned they could be jailed today.

Preston Crown Court heard how the gang, which operated five brothels out of houses in Blackburn and other ones in Preston, Manchester and Luton, advertised the sexual services of the women on an adult website and referred to them as ‘fresh stock’.

The leaders of the gang, Catalin Mihalescu and Ionel Sandu, spent more than £30,000 advertising on the Viva Street website during the course of the conspiracy.

Checks with HMRC showed that none of the conspirators has a legitimate form of income but that between January 2016 and January 2018 more than £100,000, including £25,000 cash deposits, had passed through two bank accounts registered to Mihalescu. And between March 2017 and October 2017 £9,400 has passed through a bank account registered to Sandu, 33, of Carlton Road, Blackburn. Between them they also transferred a further £58,000 through Western Union.

The court heard that at least 13 victims have been identified.

Prosecuting, Francis McEntee said the victims, who did not support the prosecution, knew they were coming to the United Kingdom to work as prostitutes via the gang’s ‘agency’.

But it is the prosecution’s case the victims were exploited by the gang who sought to make money out of them.

The court heard that prostitutes, who were sometimes referred to as ‘rags’, would be sent between brothels in towns and cities in the northern and southern bases of the operation and then advertised as ‘fresh stock’ to punters in the area.

The victims would also be given a number of online profiles so the defendants could ‘exploit the maximum amount of profit by drawing up more customers’.

Mr McEntee said police became aware that women were being exploited towards the end of 2016 when a resident in Haslingden Road, Blackburn, made a complaint about the late night activity taking place at a house on the street and the number of men attending. Found at that address were Sandu and four women who admitted to working as prostitutes but said they were doing it of their own free will.

Following further safeguarding visits police put covert surveillance in place.

That eventually led to the identification of all the defendants and a number of houses being used as brothels. That included five in Blackburn - in Haslingden Road, Infirmary Street, Mosley Street, Carlton Road and Spring View - two in Preston, four in Manchester and one in Luton.

Officers also carried out ‘test purchases’ where they rang up some of the mobile numbers linked to girls advertised on Viva Street to confirm they were offering sexual services.

In one case an undercover officer arranged to meet a woman being driven by defendant Andrei Alin Carabet.

Florin Rusescu, 44, and his partner Maria Badalescu, 33, of Harcourt Street, Luton, Sandu, Carabet, 28, of Manchester Road, Preston; ihalescu, 44, of Wadeson Road, Manchester and Valentin Poiana, 40, of Orchard Street, Manchester, have all pleaded pleaded guilty to conspiracy to arrange the travel of other persons for the purposes of exploitation. They are due to be sentenced this morning.

Mihai Nicolescu, 33, of Freehold Street, Northampton, pleaded guilty to encouraging exploitation. He was jailed at an earlier hearing.