One of the alleged trafficking victims is led away from a house in Belfast
The alleged head of a vice ring in Northern Ireland was herself a brothel worker who slept on a sofa, a High Court bail hearing has been told.
Rong Chen, 34, of Crestwood Avenue, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, denies people trafficking and controlling prostitutes.
She is alleged to have recruited women by placing adverts in the Chinese press for nannies and receptionists.
A judge reserved his decision on bail until later this week.
The woman who were lured to Northern Ireland would be put to work as prostitutes in brothels in Belfast, Londonderry and Newry, the prosecution alleges.
Ms Chen's lawyers rejected claims by her former police officer co-accused that she duped him into being part of a racket with an alleged annual turnover of millions of pounds.
Ex-PSNI officer officer Simon Dempsey, 40, of East Street, Newtownards, who faces the same charges, has been granted bail but banned from leaving Northern Ireland.
Mr Dempsey, who worked as a security consultant in Iraq after quitting the force in 2004, was stopped with two Chinese women at Belfast Port in May 2009, the court heard.
Ms Chen's legal team mounted a fresh application for bail based partly on delays in the case and also because bail was granted to her co-accused.
'Muscle'
Defence counsel Sean Devine told the court it was alleged that Mr Dempsey was the "muscle" in the operation.
He said it was claimed that the pair met when Ms Chen was working in the reception of a brothel.
"This (alleged) international figure of sophisticated crime met by Mr Dempsey was working herself in a brothel and sleeping on a sofa, according to him," the barrister said.
With Ms Chen's English-based accountant husband in court, her lawyer disputed claims there was a risk of flight if she was released on bail.
He questioned why she would forfeit the life she has established in the UK to effectively become a fugitive.
But a prosecuting barrister claimed telephone traffic has established that it was Chen who Mr Dempsey phoned for instructions when difficulties arose at the port.
She added: "This particular applicant is known by a number of aliases, including Monica, Helen, Lisa, Jessica and Lyndsey."
Lord Justice Higgins said he wanted time to read a document supplied by the defence before deciding whether to grant the accused bail.
