I guess that which is deemed to be a matter of connaissance judiciaire isn't necessarily universally shared or understood. From The Gazette of January 13, 2003:
Criminal connections pervade trade: police
SEAN GORDON and DON MACDONALD
The Gazette
Monday, January 13, 2003
There's no doubt organized crime has its tentacles in escort agencies. After all, prostitution, like gambling, has always been a mob mainstay.
One Montreal police source, asked about mob involvement in the escort business, put it this way: "This is a small network of people, and it's a closed club.
"You or I couldn't just open up shop with a couple of girls. Everyone operates with the permission of the others, and of people who have very direct links to organized crime."
A recent study on prostitution, conducted by Quebec's Conseil du statut de la femme, refers to Montreal as the "Bangkok of the West." The study mentions a growing trend in Quebec prostitution: more hookers are being brought in from eastern Europe and Asia by organized criminal groups.
The report also found 60 per cent of employees and owners in the strip club industry had criminal ties (36 per cent had direct links with biker groups). Moreover, 80 per cent of Quebec strip clubs outside Montreal offer sexual services, from masturbation to intercourse.
Last year, police swooped in to arrest four people in connection with a prostitution ring that was run out of a string of South Shore strip clubs. One of the accused is Richard Angelillo, a full-patch member of the Evil Ones, a Hells Angels puppet club. Angelillo is facing 20 counts, including conspiracy and living off the avails of prostitution.
Police also say Scott Steinert, a former full-patch member of the Hells Angels, was heavily involved in the pornography and prostitution businesses. He disappeared in 1997, and was found floating in the St. Lawrence River in 1999. Steinert fell victim to an internal Angels purge, police say.
In a recent presentation, retired Sûreté du Québec biker expert Guy Ouellet said the biker groups either run escort agencies by proxy, or receive royalties from agencies allowed to operate only with their blessing. "They're involved in all the major ones. But you never see their names directly associated with the businesses," he said.
"Most of these businesses are fronted by people who are clean, who don't have criminal records. Sometimes they're fronted by legitimate businesses," a Montreal cop said. "We had one which we busted a couple of years ago which was run out of a beauty salon. Customers would call, and the girls would be dispatched from there.
"These are pretty sophisticated operations, mostly because they're extremely lucrative. We estimate in this city, an escort can earn $250,000 in a year for her pimp."
But Alexandra, a long-time Montreal escort who has run an agency for three years, said she's never seen any evidence of organized crime's involvement in the trade. "I've never seen it come my way," she said.
