Prostitution-ring mastermind sentenced

60-year-old also ordered to forfeit more than $5.2 million

SAN MATEO — A 60year-old San Mateo man convicted of running an international prostitution ring out of apartments throughout the Bay Area has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison and ordered to forfeit more than $5.2 million, authorities said.

The punishment doled out Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Seeborg follows Allen Fong’s guilty plea on July 5, 2016, to 32 counts listed in a wide-ranging indictment filed more than two years ago.

Fong admitted that he was involved in the day-today operations of a racketeering enterprise that recruited women from overseas to work in brothels in Bay Area cities including Cupertino, Foster City, San Bruno, San Mateo and Santa Clara, authorities said.

According to court papers, Fong’s activities included renting apartments for use as brothels, booking appointments and transferring thousands of dollars from the United States to Singapore.

Fong also set prices for sexual services and collected a cut of the prostitute’s earnings, according to court papers.

Fong is scheduled to self-surrender to the Federal Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his 46-month sentence on April 18, authorities said. In addition, he must forfeit more than $5.2 million generated by the prostitution ring between August 2006 and July 2014.