A Middlesex Superior Court jury has convicted 58-year-old Eric Yuen of Malden on three counts of sex trafficking, one count of deriving support from prostitution, and one count of money laundering following a two-week trial. Prosecutors said Yuen harbored women at his Malden home between July 2021 and March 2022 and transported them to hotels and private residences across Greater Boston for commercial sex.
According to Boston 25 News, Yuen advertised commercial sex services online, including on the website Skip the Games, arranged appointments with buyers, and personally drove the women to and from those appointments during the eight-month span. Investigators say he also collected a portion of the money paid by sex buyers.
Casino Transactions at the Center of the Laundering Charge
Yuen used the proceeds to cover expenses tied to the operation, including rent, utilities, and transportation, per the same report. He also used accounts and transactions connected to Encore Boston Harbor to launder the money the operation generated.
Financial records presented at trial showed substantial cash deposits and gambling transactions, the station reports, including instances when Yuen gambled for only short periods before cashing out — a pattern prosecutors pointed to in building the laundering case against him.
Tip From Cambridge Police Launched the Investigation
The case began after a tip from Cambridge police to Homeland Security Investigations, with Massachusetts State Police also assisting in the inquiry, the article notes. That multi-agency effort ultimately built the trafficking and financial case that went before the Middlesex Superior Court jury.
Yuen’s bail was revoked following the verdict. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 17 at Middlesex Superior Court.
Another Malden Trafficking Case Moves Through Court
Yuen’s conviction comes amid a separate, unrelated sex trafficking case also centered in Malden. A dangerousness hearing for 29-year-old Jordende Pierre, who was arrested by U.S. Marshals on Sept. 24, was rescheduled to Oct. 22 at Malden District Court, according to the Boston Herald. Pierre pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking, kidnapping, and indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older, the Herald reported.
