Third S’porean added to US ‘worst of worst’ list for coercing women into prostitution

Jing Emtage was arrested in 2023 with her husband after a two-year investigation.

PHOTO: US DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Published Oct 05, 2026, 12:00 PM

Updated Oct 05, 2026, 12:00 PM

SINGAPORE – A woman convicted of operating an illegal prostitution ring disguised as legitimate massage parlours is the third Singaporean named on the US Department of Homeland Security’s list of “worst of worst criminal aliens”.

Jing Emtage, 54, was arrested in May 2023 along with her husband following an investigation that began in 2021.

She is currently being held at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Northwest processing centre in Washington.

During the two-year operation, law enforcement shut down nine massage parlours belonging to the couple and rescued 23 women who had been trafficked and forced to provide sexual services.

The Singaporean woman was sentenced to two years and two months in prison on July 25, 2025, while her husband Gerald Emtage, 49, was sentenced to 38 months’ jail.

The woman ran a massage therapy business in Singapore before moving to the US in January 2018, where she met her husband and got married the following year, according to her sentencing memorandum, which argued for a more lenient sentence.

The document said the couple originally started a legitimate massage business, but financial losses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic led them to offer illicit services.

Court documents, however, painted a different picture. Prosecutors said the couple made “significant profits” by exploiting dozens of women, who were housed in the massage parlours while the pair lived in a home that cost over US$1 million (S$1.28 million).

They added that the couple had funnelled more than a million dollars through their bank accounts, but there were no records of them paying any wages to their victims. At the time of their arrest, they were found with more than US$600,000 in cash.

The Seattle branch of ICE said on social media in August, 2026 that the Singaporean was awaiting deportation proceedings. The Straits Times has contacted ICE and Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority for more information.

The list of “worst of worst criminal aliens” on the Department of Homeland Security website currently has 46.275 people”. Launched in December 2025, it catalogues “criminal illegal aliens” who were arrested since the beginning of US President Donald Trump’s second administration.

Amos Yee was the first Singaporean added to the list when it was launched. Yee was deported back to Singapore in March after serving a jail term in the US for child pornography and sexual grooming.

In February, a second Singaporean, Lim Seok Pheng, was added to the list. She was arrested for suspected money laundering, and subsequently provided information about those she worked with. This led to the prosecution of individuals who were laundering money for Mexican drug cartels.

Prostitution/Commercial sex

经过两年的调查，景恩泰格于 2023 年与丈夫一同被捕。

图片来源：美国国土安全部

发布于2026年10月5日下午12:00

更新于2026年10月5日中午12:00

新加坡——一名女子因经营伪装成合法按摩院的非法卖淫团伙而被定罪，她是第三位被美国国土安全部列入“最恶劣的外国罪犯”名单的新加坡人。

54岁的金恩泰格（Jing Emtage）和她的丈夫于2023年5月被捕，此前一项始于2021年的调查已经展开。

她目前被关押在华盛顿的移民和海关执法局（ICE）西北处理中心。

在为期两年的行动中，执法部门关闭了这对夫妇拥有的九家按摩院，并解救了 23 名被贩卖并被迫提供性服务的妇女。

2025年7月25日，这名新加坡女子被判处两年零两个月监禁，而她的丈夫，49岁的杰拉尔德·埃姆塔格被判处38个月监禁。

据她的量刑备忘录称，这名女子在 2018 年 1 月移居美国之前，曾在新加坡经营一家按摩理疗店。她在美国遇到了她的丈夫，并在次年结婚。该备忘录请求法官给予她较轻的刑罚。

文件显示，这对夫妇最初开办了一家合法的按摩店，但受新冠疫情造成的经济损失影响，他们开始提供非法服务。

然而，法庭文件却描绘了另一番景象。检方称，这对夫妇通过剥削数十名女性牟取“巨额利润”，这些女性被安置在按摩院中，而这对夫妇则居住在价值超过100万美元（128万新元）的豪宅里。

他们还补充说，这对夫妇通过他们的银行账户转移了超过一百万美元，但没有记录显示他们曾向受害者支付过任何工资。在他们被捕时，警方在他们身上搜出了超过六十万美元的现金。

美国移民及海关执法局（ICE）西雅图分局于2026年8月在社交媒体上表示，这名新加坡公民正在等待遣返程序。《海峡时报》已联系ICE和新加坡移民及关卡局以获取更多信息。

美国国土安全部网站上列出的“最恶劣的非法移民罪犯”名单目前有46275人。该名单于2025年12月推出，记录了自美国总统唐纳德·特朗普第二任期开始以来被捕的“非法移民罪犯”。

余澎杉是该名单推出时首位被列入的新加坡人。余澎杉因持有儿童色情制品和性侵儿童罪在美国服刑后，于今年3月被遣返回新加坡。

今年2月，第二名新加坡公民林淑萍（Lim Seok Pheng）被列入名单。她因涉嫌洗钱被捕，随后提供了与其共犯的信息。这导致一些为墨西哥贩毒集团洗钱的人员被起诉。

卖淫/商业性行为