A 22-year-old ex-star of a popular reality show in Russia and her Ghanaian partner have been arrested in Moscow on charges of human trafficking, Russian investigators said on Tuesday.
According to police, Aygun Azizova and Ghana national Shamsu Muhammad offered a Ghanaian and three Nigerian women job opportunities in the Russian capital. In reality, they planned to sell the women as prostitutes to a pimp for 50,000 rubles ($1,650) each.
The couple was arrested on January 19 during a covert operation when an undercover police officer posed as a potential buyer and the suspects accepted payment in exchange for the four "future prostitutes" and their passports.
Russia's LifeNews.ru website reported on Tuesday that Shamsu Muhammad remained in custody while Azizova had been released on bail because she is pregnant. Both could face up to six years in prison if convicted.
Azizova took part in Russia's Dom-2 (House-2) TV show, which is similar to Big Brother, for several weeks in 2006. She later appeared in a late night TV show on sexual issues aired on Russia's TNT television.
MOSCOW, January 26 (RIA Novosti)
