Sex trafficker made £2.6m from operating brothels across Glasgow

A sex trafficker who duped Chinese women into travelling to Scotland and forcing them into prostitution made more £2m from his life of crime, a court has heard.

Jagpal Singh, 55, accumulated £2,688,927.46 from criminal activities, judge Lord Summers heard on Monday.

Singh was given a ten-year jail term in September 2022 after proceedings at the High Court in Glasgow.

He teamed up with his partner Donglin Zhang, 51, and Albanian national Vlassis Ntaoulias, 35, to set up a network of brothels across Glasgow.

The trio was joined by Thai citizen Boonsong Wannas, 62, who helped them bring in women from Asia who were forced to provide sex services from August 2018 to February 2020.

Their business was brought down after police visited one of their premises and found a distressed Chinese woman inside who revealed she’d been compelled to sell her body.

Singh was arrested after raids on another seven brothels.

Last year, it emerged that Singh was made bankrupt after the Royal Bank of Scotland took action against him. He had accumulated debts of £3,443,116.

Vlassis Ntaoulias, Jagpal Singh, Boonsong Wannas, and Donglin Zhang were all sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow. Police Scotland

On Monday, a proceeds of crime case against Singh called at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Prosecutor Bryan Heaney revealed that he and defence lawyers had agreed that Singh had made £2,688,927.46 from his criminal endeavours.

But Mr Heaney said that because Singh had been made bankrupt, there were no assets available to match his £2.6m benefit.

Mr Heaney asked judge Lord Summers to order Singh to hand over £1 to prosecutors – Mr Heaney said the Crown would return to court if it discovered that Singh had more assets.

In November 2024, it was reported that the Royal Bank of Scotland took court action to recover the money. His debts were shown in paperwork lodged with the accountant in bankruptcy.

At that time, the documents showed that Singh had no other assets.

He was declared bankrupt.

Singh first came to public attention when he appeared on a BBC reality TV show called Common Sense in 2017.

Common Sense was narrated by Gavin and Stacey co-creator Ruth Jones and ran on BBC Two for six episodes in 2016.

A publicity blurb at the time said members of the public were picked for “their sharp wit and humorous take on life”.

Singh appeared in scenes shot at his then launderette in Glasgow’s West End — where his customers included footballers, lawyers, judges, and actors from telly shows Balamory and Still Game.

Known to pals as Jerry, he was seen chatting with his ex-wife about topics such as David Beckham and stress eating.

Singh was jailed with three others in 2022.

On Monday, Lord Summers ordered Singh to hand over £1 to staff at Hamilton Sheriff Court within the month.