A COUPLE who ran a brothel in Ipswich are set to lose the thousands they made from the seedy operation after police launched a bid to confiscate their profits.

A COUPLE who ran a brothel in Ipswich are set to lose the thousands they made from the seedy operation after police launched a bid to confiscate their profits.

Anthony Pryor, 69 and his Chinese wife Quing Hua, 37, are currently serving 18-month jail terms after they were convicted at Chelmsford Crown Court of running the illegal business.

Now, police and the Crown Prosecution Service have turned their attentions to seizing the small fortune the couple made selling sex.

The Pryors operated a brothel, offering sex with Chinese immigrant prostitutes, from an address in Ipswich's Chevallier Street. They also ran similar sex dens in Sudbury and Braintree.

A Proceeds of Crime Act Confiscation application has been served on the couple which is expected to be heard in June.

Police hope they will be able to recover a sum in the region of £150,000.

Quing Hua also faces deportation upon the completion of her sentence as she is an illegal immigrant.

The couple, of The Plain, Epping, were placed under surveillance in January 2006 and were arrested in June of that year. They were found guilty by a jury on January 29 this year.

During their trial, the judge said that while there was no evidence to support the view the couple were involved in people-trafficking their Chinese prostitutes, those with whom they had associated probably were.

The crimes were described as “shameful, seedy and depraved”.

The couple were told to expect to serve half of the 18-month term in prison and half on licence.

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