Six additional men — including a high-ranking Microsoft employee, a former Amazon director and a Boeing engineer — were charged last month in connection with the sex-soliciting group that was raided by law enforcement earlier this year.
Director of World Wide Health for Microsoft, Sumit Virmani, was charged on April 28 along with Boeing engineer Benjamin Yu, Bellevue dentist John Lui and Amazon software development director Vivek Asthana (who reportedly left the company this month). Also charged were the owner of an Eastside company specializing in technology for public safety, government and military organization, Mark Enfield, and Warren Watanabe, manager of a golf supply store in Federal Way.
The men were charged in King County Superior Court on April 28 with multiple counts of promoting prostitution. It is alleged that the men were members of The League, an exclusive organization for “hobbyists” of Asian prostitutes were would review sex workers, help bring them to the Seattle-area and help one another evade law enforcement detection.
According to court documents, Virmani was caught on his way to a “date” with a sex worker on Jan. 6, but was not arrested at the time. He was reportedly very nervous and concerned that law enforcement would contact his employer, Microsoft, and later sent the members of The League an email warning them about the police activity and asking for advice.
“Please stay away from the hobby in Bellevue right now,” Virmani allegedly wrote in an email titled “Red Alert.
The League, another sex review website and multiple brothels based in Downtown Bellevue were shut down by the Bellevue Police Department, the King County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI in January after a nine-month-long investigation.
A dozen men and a woman were initially charged for their involvement and are awaiting trial. Bail for all of The League participants was set at $75,000 each.
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