ments to schedule undercover
visits with the women through
phone numbers listed online —
also linked to Dr. Smith — and
meet them at luxury apart-
ments that connected back to
Dr. Smith. The affidavit gives
no indication that the women
were here against their will.
Some of the women even
seemed happy working as pros-
titutes, telling undercover
agents that they came to find
work to support their families
back in Asia. One told investi-
gators that her family "was very
poor and could live off of $100 per month."
According to court records, the women were brought to the United
States by a close female associate of Dr. Smith, and then put up in
several of the ritziest apartments in Bellevue, Wash., where the sex
services were allegedly performed.
Dr. Smith is accused of taking money earned from these transactions
and depositing the cash in a structured way, using ATMs in an effort to
avoid detection. Dr. Smith allegedly broke up large sums of money into
smaller cash deposits at ATMs to avoid reporting the large amounts to
the IRS and to prevent bank tellers from becoming suspicious.
Investigators say his deposits totaled $426,000 in one year alone, and
allege that he used one bank to launder the money and wire payments
to Southeast Asia. The court documents also say that he received
monthly paychecks between $20,000 and $45,000 from his anesthesiol-
Anesthesiologist
Eric Jay Smith,
MD, is in trouble
with authorities for
allegedly running
a prostitution ring
at luxury
apartments
in suburban
Seattle.
SURGEONS'
Lounge
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