Published
Thu, Jun 25, 2015, 13:22
- The two owners of the Shoreditch nightclub, which closed in 2013, have been sentenced to a combined 18 years in prison.
Closed Shoreditch nightclub East Village was at the centre of a £12 million prostitution ring.
The venue's two former owners, Ashley Sheldrick and Terrence Hart, have been jailed for a combined total of 18 years for conspiring to run brothels and launder the profits, according to the London Evening Standard. Metropolitan Police say money made from Sheldrick and Hart's prostitution ring, which included brothels in Camden and Westminster, helped finance East Village. A police investigation into the venue has been in progress for a few years—RA first reported on it back in 2013—but only now has the full scale of Sheldrick and Hart's operation emerged. Sheldrick, 50, was jailed for eight years, while Hart, 46, was jailed for ten years in a ruling made by the Inner London Crown Court. Two other men, Anilton Soares, 41, and Cassia de Sousa Rodrigues, 33, were also jailed for five and three years respectively for their involvement in the ring.
Detective Sergeant Geoff Donoghue said: "Our evidence suggests that in three years, the group made around £12.3 million. I am pleased with the sentences these individuals have received and we are now seeking to recover as much of that money as possible."
The Great Eastern Street venue that once housed East Village is now occupied by Trapeze, a club with different owners.