A vice syndicate operated two massage parlours under the cover of a construction firm but got busted within two years. One of its members was sentenced on Monday to three months in jail for living on immoral earnings and abetment in the running of a brothel.

A district court heard that Huang Han Jie, 29, had manned the massage parlours in Chinatown. He also pleaded guilty to collecting $1,000 from a China national prostitute from Feb 14 to Feb 24 last year . The prostitute collected $150 from 20 customers and Huang received $50 for each man.

Court papers state that in early 2010, Koh Swee Beng, 47, paid $700 a month to Loh Wah Peng, 41, to rent a shop house at Amoy Street using Loh's company, Wah Peng Construction, as a cover. However, the five Chinese nationals hired as masseuses, worked as prostitutes. In Sept 2010, he struck a similar arrangement with Loh to rent premises at Teck Lim Road.

The syndicate had posted two websites featuring photographs of the 'masseuses'. Men interested in the 'private massaging' service would call one to book the prostitute of their choice at either one of the two premises.