CAMBRIDGE — A Brigham and Women’s doctor and the former head of a local pharmaceutical startup were among the 11 men newly identified in court Friday as those accused of frequently buying sex at the brothel ring that operated out of luxury apartments in Cambridge.
With Friday’s court proceedings, all of the 34 men who authorities have sought charges against have now been identified in a series of open hearings over the last three weeks, including Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner as well as doctors, lawyers, and local tech business founders.
They account for just a small fraction of the 2,800-plus contacts in the brothel ring’s primary cellphone list, but authorities say they were the network’s most frequent patrons, paying hundreds of dollars an hour to buy sex from exploited women.
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These are men, authorities say, who exchanged 400 or more texts with the brothel hot line as they bought sex multiple times. One man identified Friday, Needham doctor George Wu, exchanged more than 1,400 texts as he scheduled at least 45 “dates,” police said. The one particular encounter described in charging documents cost $460.
The initial court hearings are meant to determine whether there’s probable cause to move ahead with criminal charges. On Friday, Clerk Sharon Casey and her assistants issued complaints against Wu, pharmaceutical business cofounder Amrit Chaudhuri of Brookline, and Mitchell H. Rubenstein, a Brigham and Women’s medical doctor from Chestnut Hill who is on leave from that job; as well as Harmanpreet Singh of Woburn; Kenneth Posco of Fitchburg; Patrick C. Enright of Wakefield; Marshall Berenson of Cambridge; Suren Chelian of Lexington; Sankara Swarup Asapu of Malden; and John Cascarano of Hingham.
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The court also identified a complaint that police sought against Paul J. Urban, of East Bridgewater, but he did not receive a proper summons, so his hearing was pushed off until April 25.
The first 12 names were revealed in court two weeks ago, and then 11 more last Friday. They’re all due back in court either May 9 or 16, according to court records.
None of the men nor their lawyers appeared in court on Friday.
According to affidavits read aloud by Cambridge police at the hearings, the text exchanges between the brothel operators and clients are quick and businesslike, with “pleases,” “thank yous,” and even a “have a great day.” The men request certain women, often by stage name, agreeing to spend hundreds of dollars for a “girlfriend experience” over the course of an hour. They typically called the payment a “donation,” as is common in the sex trade.
The brothel network operated for at least three years out of luxury apartment buildings in Cambridge, Watertown, and the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Prosecutors have said it was one of the largest and most lucrative of its kind on the East Coast.
In November 2023, federal authorities broke up the ring, arresting three operators. All three have pleaded guilty, and ringleader Han “Hana” Lee, 42, was sentenced last week to four years in federal prison.
Shortly after authorities disrupted the brothel network, the case made national headlines when prosecutors said the elite clientele included elected officials, doctors, lawyers, professors, and government contractors with security clearances.
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The women, authorities have said, are the victims, and none have been charged. But using the brothel operators’ fastidious recordkeeping, a task force involving local and federal authorities filed charges against 28 men in December 2023. They later added charges against six more men as the investigation continued.
The courts scheduled “show cause” hearings for the men to determine whether they would move ahead with criminal charges. These hearings are used whenever someone is charged with a misdemeanor for which they were not arrested, and they’re typically held behind closed doors.
The process is unique to Massachusetts, and has often come under scrutiny, with critics taking aim at the lack of transparency and the possibility of preferential treatment.
In the brothel case, following the requests of media outlets including the Globe, the Cambridge clerk-magistrate ordered the hearings to be opened to the public. But the men continued to challenge the open hearings in a series of court appeals. Media outlets also requested more public documentation about the case. The state Supreme Judicial Court ultimately ruled the hearings should be held in public.
The charge of paying for sex, which is what each of the men faces, typically does not result in jail time, even when there is a conviction.
But many advocates for exploited women say the public shaming that can come with such a charge is an important deterrent. If they can stop people from buying sex, they say, they can stop the exploitation and trafficking of women.
Toner, the Cambridge councilor, has faced some calls to resign, but has shown no signs of doing do. Some of his colleagues have rallied to his cause, saying he should not resign.
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The EMMA Coalition, a group of organizations that support exploited women, said in a statement Friday morning ahead of the day of hearings that buying sex is “not a victimless crime.”
“Buying sex anywhere at any time perpetuates a system built upon gender-based violence and exploitation,” the group wrote. “The act of buying sex needs to be met with an understanding of the severe impact this has on a person’s life and should not be dismissed, downplayed, or excused because of a sex buyer’s background, family, education, position, or positive contributions to a community.”
Travis Andersen of Globe staff contributed.
Sean Cotter can be reached at sean.cotter@globe.com. Follow him @cotterreporter.