Three years jail for Malaysian brothel boss in Sydney

Wong Chee Mei, 39, was found guilty in April of running a business that involved the sexual servitude of others and also of four counts of employing people in breach of their visas and knowing they were being exploited, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported.

In sentencing her to a maximum of six years on Friday, Judge Deborah Sweeney said Wong had treated the women "not as human beings but as commodities -- machines to make money".

Between 2008 and 2009 she recruited Malaysian women and organised them to enter Australia on student visas.

The women spoke little or no English and were told they would have to work until they paid off the cost of their airfare, visa and course fees -- accumulating debts of up to A$5,800.

The women were forced to carry out demeaning and harmful sexual acts including having unprotected sex, under the threat of deportation, said Judge Sweeney.

"(They) were paraded in front of customers with only numbers to identify them," AAP quoted the judge. One of the women told the court she worked 17-hour days at the brothel and was fined A$10 if she was late. Judge Sweeney said Wong also gave the women medication to stop their periods so they could work -- slapping one of them when she menstruated.