Pensioner Fined For Running Glasgow Brothel
A pensioner who ran a brothel for almost a decade from the ground floor of a Glasgow flat has been ordered to pay almost £43,000.
Isabella Qazi, 72, operated the sex den - fronting as a massage parlour - between 2003 and 2012 hiring mature women - including 63-year-old Winifred, to work for her.
But, after years of being "discreet" the police found out about the ground floor tenement flat on Birkenshaw Street in Glasgow's Dennistoun area, and the cover was blown.
Qazi, from Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, denied managing the brothel in the east end flat.
She claimed she ran a massage parlour and knew nothing of the extra services that were offered to punters who made appointments.
But the jury at Glasgow Sheriff Court rejected her defence and she was unanimously found guilty.
Sheriff Kenneth Mitchell admonished Qazi after deferring sentence for her to be of good behaviour.
A confiscation order for her to pay £42,973 was also granted at the court.
During her trial the court heard from a number of men who frequented the flat over the years. Some were regular customers and went several times a year.
Agnes Stephenson, 57 and Winifred Archibald, 63, who worked at the brothel gave evidence at the trial.
Stephenson, known as Marie and Archibald as Alexis told the jury that Qazi was never involved in the conversations about the extra services.
An advert from the Sunday Sport newspaper was shown to the jury which advertised the parlour and which woman was working on which day.
A number was attached but the court heard that there was no negotiation for sex on the phone - only when the clients reached the flat and were alone with the prostitute in the bedroom.
The men told how they would be buzzed into the close of the property and let in to the flat and met by a receptionist.
She would take £10 from the men - an "entry fee" that would get them a massage and lead them to the bedroom where they would wait for another female.
When in the room the punter would be offered extra services as well as a massage and a price would be agreed on.
The court heard that it was between £50 and £60 for sex.
Intelligence lead the police to Birkenshaw Street and Winifred, who is hard of hearing, was in the property when it was raided.
The jury heard that sex toys were found in the property.
A man who was leaving at the time of the raid was stopped by police and gave a statement that he had just paid for sex.
A search warrant was also granted for Qazi's Bishopbriggs house, where she lives with another man.
Officers found spreadsheets for the years 2010 and some of 2011 which showed client numbers and expenses including utility bills and supplies for the flat.
Defence counsel Paul Nelson suggested that if around £20 was spent a month on supplies - as was suggested by the spreadsheet - that it would cover the cost of baby oil and other things a masseuse might use and that if condoms were bought it would cost a lot more.
But Harry Findlay, prosecuting, pointed out that for some months more than £20 was spent on supplies, in fact more than £100 was spent in some months, that it would be possible that other items were purchased.
Keys for the Birkenshaw Street property were found in her home as well as cash, including £500 inside a purse in a drawer in her bedroom.
The court heard £900 was wrapped in a scarf in her bedroom drawer and a further £105 was found.
When later asked by police what the money was for Qazi, described by her defence as "no spring chicken" claimed it was her funeral money.
Qazi also worked as the receptionist for a time and collected the cash that was left in the flat.
During the time that Qazi operated the brothel she was the secretary of a company Continuum Scotland Ltd.
She resigned from the firm that she was company secretary from between June 2000 and January 2012 - days after she was snared by police.
Continuum sold Scottish memorabilia overseas, including golf putters, whisky and tartan items.