Vasile Anca and Claudia Anca were jailed for six years, Mihaita Strat was sentenced to two years (Pic-Met Police)
Claudia Anca, 27, and Vasile Anca, 24, of Chingford and Mihaita Strat, 51, of Henley Road, Redbridge were handed their sentences at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Wednesday 17, November.
The trio denied any involvement when their trial started on Monday 8, October but due to the vast amount of evidence against them changed their pleas the following day on the charge of controlling prostitution.
Claudia and Vasile also plead guilty to supplying Class A drugs, they were sentenced to six years each, Strat was handed a two year jail term.
Charges of trafficking have been left to lie on file.
The Met’s Modern Slavery and Child Exploitation Team found that they had been running a sexual services business which was advertised on a website.
A customer would phone a number from one of the online adverts, they would then send a woman to their preferred location.
If requested, then the Anca siblings would also be able to supply cocaine.
They ran the business from at least March 2019, this when a company called ‘Ace Concept’ was set up which listed the two siblings as directors.
The business did not appear to have any legitimate purpose and it seems to have been set up as cover for the illicit activity.
It was linked to a number of adverts found on a classified website which included Claudia’s phone number and detailed how to book the sexual services.
A total of 73 payments were made from the Anca siblings between July 2019 and January 2021 which totalled £23,162.99.
During the investigation, police set up an undercover operation when an officer reached out to the advertised number, they arranged a price for sexual services and also for drugs.
The officer then went to a hotel in Barking where he met one a woman and then later on Vasile delivered some drugs.
A sting operation occurred on January 13 where two officers waited inside a hotel where they had arranged for two sex workers and cocaine to be delivered to a hotel in Barking.
Just before 11pm they met the sex workers outside, where Strat shouted to ask if they’d ordered the girls.
Strat was then arrested, where they found £890 in the his car and a Satnav which showed a history of journeys to the Anca siblings address.
The sex workers were found to have three wraps of cocaine as well as a number of unused condoms.
After Strat’s arrest, they went to the siblings address and arrested the pair. Police found a number of items at the address; a large sum of cash, a quantity of drugs, several mobile phone numbers and a notebook containing financial entries.
Photos of women posing in their underwear were also found in WhatsApp messages sent from Claudia to Strat, and were similar to those used in the online adverts.
Detective Inspector Nigel Penney, from the Met’s Modern Slavery and Child Exploitation Team, said: “This was an excellent investigation by my team of detectives, which resulted in the defendants changing their pleas to guilty due to the overwhelming evidence against them. This criminal enterprise was run and controlled by Claudia Anca who, along with her brother Vasile and Strat, had absolutely no regard for the welfare or safety of the women they exploited for their own greed.
“The Met is committed to keeping London a safe place for everyone and will continue to work behind the scenes to robustly target and bring to justice people like the Anca siblings and Strat who treat people as nothing more than an object to make money.
“We remain absolutely dedicated to doing all we can to protect women and girls, like those who were exploited by the Ancas and Strat. The Met takes all reports of exploitation extremely seriously and I would encourage anyone who has suffered from these kind of offences to contact police where they will be treated sensitively and any allegations will be thoroughly investigated.”
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Tags: Redbridge, Prostitution
