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Stripper trafficking suspect back in U.S.

samsung1

Ohio

DETROIT, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- A Ukrainian nightclub owner accused of forcing women to work as strippers is being brought back to Detroit to face charges, authorities said.

Veniamin Gonikman, 55, was indicted in Detroit in 2005 but fled the country, the Detroit Free Press reported.

He was arrested Wednesday in Ukraine, deported and arrested on his arrival in New York, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said Thursday.

Gonikman and associates used Beauty Search Inc. as a cover for a trafficking racket that smuggled Eastern European women into Detroit, his indictment charges.

The women were forced to work 12 hours a day, and Gonikman and his associates took all their earnings, more than $1 million, court records state.

One victim, testifying before the House Judiciary Committee in 2007, said: "I could not refuse to go to work or I would be beaten. I was often yelled at for not making enough money or had a gun put to my face. Every week, I handed over around $3,000 to $4,000. I was their slave."

Gonikman's associates, including his son, Aleksandr Maksimenko, were convicted and are serving prison sentences ranging from seven to 14 years.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/01/2…