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Man charged
in nude Internet
model case

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Star-Bulletin staff

A federal grand jury has indicted a man believed to be the mastermind of a ring that smuggled Japanese women to the United States to work as nude Internet models.

Takao Asayama yesterday pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court to a three-count indictment charging him with conspiracy and two counts of money laundering.

Asayama was arrested in California recently and brought here to face prosecution.

Four male codefendants arrested in January pleaded guilty earlier to charges of conspiracy and received sentences ranging from a year of probation to 28 months in federal prison.

Of the four, Akira Sekimoto, the head of the Honolulu operation that operated out of a Kamehameha Heights residence, also was charged with money laundering and received the harshest sentence of 28 months imprisonment and fined $3,000. He assisted federal prosecutors by identifying Asayama and may be called to testify at Asayama's trial.

Four models who were brought to Hawaii pleaded guilty to using false information to enter the United States. The women returned to Japan after they were sentenced to six months of supervised release and fined $40.