Businessman sentenced for traveling to pay for sex following HSI, local partner investigation
SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio man was sentenced Nov. 8 to more than three years in prison for interstate travel in furtherance of racketeering activity following a human trafficking investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with assistance from the San Antonio Police Department and the Texas Attorney General’s office.
Derek Wai Hung Tam Sing, 52, was sentenced by a federal judge Nov. 8 to 46 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. Sing pleaded guilty July 18.
"This sentence sends a message that this community will not tolerate those who seek to exploit others such as sex trafficking,” said HSI San Antonio Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee. "HSI is fully committed to working with our law enforcement partners to rescue victims and aggressively investigate allegations of human trafficking. We encourage anyone who has information related to human trafficking to report it to authorities immediately.”
According to court documents, on June 11, 2021, HSI received a request for assistance regarding an ongoing state human trafficking investigation. Texas law enforcement officers were investigating a massage parlor that was being used to engage in sex trafficking and money laundering. On April 4, 2022, HSI and the San Antonio Police Department arrested Sing without incident.
In court, Sing admitted to traveling from San Antonio to California once a month to check on his business, where he hired women to engage in sex for money. During the investigation, officials rescued three adult women from the sex trafficking case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Tracey Thompson prosecuted the case.
For more news and information on HSI’s efforts to aggressively investigate human trafficking cases follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, @HSI_SanAntonio
Call the HSI tip line at 866-347-2423 to report suspicious activity.
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.
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