THE man who used an Alva flat to help pocket more than £150,000 through a cross-country prostitution ring has been handed a three-year prison term.

Jose Barbosa, originally from Brazil, admitted trafficking women to and from the Clacks address and others in central Scotland for almost two years.

The 44-year-old appeared at the High Court in Glasgow last Tuesday (13 October) charged with arranging and facilitating the movement of women for the purposes of prostitution.

His defence agent said there was no evidence that the women had been coerced, and the trafficking itself was restricted to taking them between addresses.

He nonetheless rented numerous properties and advertised the services of women on the internet, before transporting them between the various flats.

In August 2013, police were given intelligence that Barbosa, using the alias of Alexander Marques, was involved in organised prostitution.

Operation Wolfberry was set up to investigate his movements and he was observed regularly travelling to an address in Southcroft, Alva, along with others in Kirkcaldy, Dunfermline, Hamilton, Stirling, Falkirk, Perth and Dundee - sometimes with females.

Officers outside the locations observed a “steady stream of male callers” before undercover cops set up a sting operation.

Police then made contact with two women operating from these addresses and were later given a price for sex.

Prosecutor Mark McGuire told the High Court: “The intelligence was to the effect that the accused was involved in the transportation of females between properties he had rented for the purposes of prostitution and would advertise the sexual services they provided in adult websites.”

He said Barbosa would “frequently visit several flats in one day” and added: “Often he would go to various banks and deposit large quantities of money in notes immediately after leaving the various flats.”

The flats were later raided by police, and the women caught there said Barbosa had “arranged accommodation” for them and claimed they had paid him a weekly rent, as well as fees for posting adverts online and transporting them between flats.

A search of his home address in Kirkcaldy found tenancy agreements for the rented flats and documentation connecting him with advert placement on adult websites.

Inquiries revealed that despite no legitimate source of income, Barbosa deposited £150,852 in various bank accounts.

Defence counsel Gail Gianni said: “There was no coercion whatsoever with any of these sex workers. What he did was trafficking - transporting these females round the country and living in part on the earnings of prostitutes.”

Last Tuesday, Judge Lord Matthews told Barbosa: “You are a family man with no previous convictions and have pleaded guilty to serious offences involving the exploitation of women resulting in you obtaining a significant amount of money.

“These offences were well organised and while you see yourself as a victim, you are sadly deluded in that regard.”

The court heard that the prosecution accepted that Barbosa was not responsible for bringing the women, who were aged 28 to 48, into the country. 

Lord Matthews added: “It is also accepted these women were not induced or coerced into this activity.”

Barbosa was told he could also face future court action to strip him of criminal profits.