STA , 20 July - The Koper District Court was no longer allowed to extend the provisional securement of the asset recovery claim in the prostitution and sex trafficking case known as Marina. They are believed to have made at least EUR 21 million in illegal gains while allegedly operating a prostitution ring at the Marina Sauna Club near Nova Gorica, and abusing some women, mostly from Romania, Ukraine, Albania and the former Yugoslavia, between and , who have had to serve some , male guests, says the prosecution.
According to the newspaper, provisional securement of a asset recovery claim is ordered by the court when there is reason to believe a suspect will use illegally acquired assets to resume criminal activity or that they will hide, steal, destroy or otherwise use said assets to impede criminal proceedings and asset recovery once court proceedings are completed. The Koper District Court has also received EUR , in bail since September which was paid to release the prime suspect, businessman Sergej Racman, from custody.
All four defendants maintain the Marina was an erotic club providing an intimate atmosphere, but no one was forced into prostitution. Prostitution was decriminalised in Slovenia , but only for those providing the services voluntarily, without procurement and coercion. The businessman was in detention since November, when he was extradited by Canada after more than a year on the run from Slovenian law enforcement.
The former owner and boss of the Kolosej cinema chain, Racman is the prime suspect in a case known as Marina, named after the club where roughly prostitutes provided sex services to an estimated , clients over the course of several years. Proceeds of crime from the operation are estimated at EUR 21 million. The money was allegedly used to finance a range of Racman's other business ventures.
Prostitution is not a crime in Slovenia, but abuse of prostitution is. Racman faces between one and twelve years in prison if found guilty. He has pleaded not guilty and has maintained that he and his co-defendants had done nothing wrong since there was no coercion involved. Racman is the subject of several other criminal procedures related to his other business ventures.
