A Brazilian dad-of-two who made more than £150,000 trafficking vice girls between flats in Scotland for prostitution has been jailed for three years.
Jose Barbosa has admitted trafficking women and transferring criminal money.
The 44-year-old was seen travelling between more than a dozen flats in Kirkcaldy, Perth, Stirling, Falkirk, Alva and Dundee.
He used an alias, a Spanish ID card and a fake employers’ letter to rent out properties, which he would then sub-let to women who came from Brazil and Ecuador.
Undercover police saw him travelling between flats in Kirkcaldy, Perth, Stirling, Falkirk, Alva and Dundee.
Judge Lord Matthews told Barbosa: “You are a family man with no previous convictions and have pleaded guilty to serious offences involving the exploitation of women resulting in you obtaining a significant amount of money.”
The court heard that Barbosa came to Britain after running up debts of £100,000 in Brazil when a car business failed.
Advocate depute Mark McGuire, prosecuting, said a police probe was sparked by a tip-off in August 2013 that Barbosa, who lived in Kirkcaldy, was involved in organised prostitution.
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