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Cambridge brothel hearings: More alleged sex buyers identified
Authorities allege the men charged were among the brothel network’s most frequent customers.
Ten more men were publicly identified in court Friday as alleged customers of a high-end brothel ring that operated out of luxury apartments in Greater Boston.
They’re among the third and final wave of alleged sex buyers named in a series of court proceedings that began earlier this month in Cambridge District Court. None of the accused nor their lawyers appeared in court Friday; in the two prior days of hearings, only two men actually showed up, though others sent attorneys in their place.
Authorities allege the men charged were among the brothel network’s most frequent customers. Their identities had been shrouded in mystery since late 2023, when federal authorities busted the commercial sex ring and arrested its three operators, who have all since pleaded guilty.
Previously:
Operating out of apartments in Cambridge, Watertown, and the Washington, D.C., suburbs, the brothel network attracted a “wealthy and well-connected clientele” that included politicians, military officers, and business executives, then-U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy said upon announcing the bust.
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As in prior hearings, Cambridge Police Lt. Jarred Cabral read a series of similar police reports for the accused sex buyers Friday, explaining slang terms he said are common in commercial sex work. He read through text exchanges between the brothel operators and the alleged clients, each conversation businesslike and perfunctory in its instructions — send a text upon arrival, hang back by the stairs or elevator if there are other people around, no under-the-table deals with the women.
Typically held behind closed doors, so-called “show-cause” hearings determine whether there’s probable cause to issue a criminal complaint and allow prosecutors to pursue the case further. The men charged Friday will be summonsed for arraignment on the charges in the coming weeks.
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The alleged sex buyers fought to keep their initial hearings private after Clerk-Magistrate Sharon Shelfer Casey opened the proceedings due to requests from several local media outlets. The ensuing court battle stretched on nearly a year, but the state’s highest court ultimately upheld Casey’s decision.
In skipping their probable cause hearings, the majority of the alleged sex buyers forfeited their chance to make arguments before Casey but avoided the scrum of journalists and demonstrators outside the courthouse. If any of the accused fails to appear for their arraignment, the court could issue a warrant for their arrest.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has put the estimated number of verified brothel customers at more than 2,800, but authorities at this point are only pursuing charges against men who allegedly exchanged 400 or more text messages with brothel operators.
The first 12 alleged sex buyers were identified in court two weeks ago, followed by another 11 men last Friday. The accused hail from various backgrounds, including a tech CEO, a prominent oncologist, a software engineer, and a Cambridge city councilor.
Below are the names of the accused whose probable cause hearings were held Friday:
- Amrit Chaudhuri, 39, from Brookline
- Mitchell H. Rubenstein, 74, from Chestnut Hill
- Marshall Berenson, 62, from Cambridge
- Harmanpreet Singh, 38, from Woburn
- Kenneth Posco, 69, from Fitchburg
- George Wu, 58, from Needham
- Patrick C. Enright, 63, from Wakefield
- Suren Chelian, 47, from Lexington
- Sankara Swarup Asapu, 40, from Malden
- John Cascarano, 61, from Hingham
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