Norwich Crown Court heard how the brothels were set up between 2006 and 2008, fronted by seemingly respectable businesses at the Cavendish Hotel in Princes Road, Great Yarmouth, and a Chinese herbal medicine shop in Upper Orwell Street, Ipswich. A third brothel operated out of a house in Chalk Hill Road, Norwich.

When undercover officers visited the brothels they were offered sex for £60 a half hour or £100 an hour with “beautiful Asian women.”

Shu Quin Wang, 54, of Princes Road, Yarmouth, admitted conspiracy to manage brothels and was jailed for 12 months. Her brother Jian Zhane Wang, 52, of the same address, was found guilty of money laundering for the operation and was jailed for eight months.

Pin Yo Wang. from Newport, who admitted conspiracy to manage brothels, was fined £12,000, which was cash seized on her arrest by police.

Jailing Shu Quin Wang, Judge Paul Downes described her as an “astute” businesswoman and said there was evidence of how busy the brothels were, with a turnaround in clients which involved “significant sums” of cash. “It was extensive and well organised,” he said. He said her brother Jian Zhane Wang had helped with money laundering and said: “Those who assist people in disguising crime must expect prison sentences.”

However the judge accepted that none of the girls working in the brothels had been coerced into prostitution.

He also commended Det Con Caroline Reid and Det Con Jane Woods for all the hard work they had done on the case.

Rex Bryan for Shu Quin Wang, said: “She speaks very little English and any period in custody is going to be that bit more traumatic.”

He said only one room at the hotel was run as a brothel and the rest was run as an “honest” business.

“If she is sent to prison her business is going to be wrecked. She is very hands on running this hotel.”

Tom Wainwright, for Jian Zhane Wang, said: “This was not a lucrative operation as far as he was concerned. There is no evidence of a flash lifestyle or high living.”

He said Jian Zhane Wang was qualified as a Chinese doctor and was not a sophisticated person. “He is not the brains of this operation.”

Graham Blower, representing Pin Yo Wang, said that she had run a legitimate business from the premises in Ipswich, but had been under financial pressure as she had taken out a bank loan. “There is very little prospect of her re-offending,” he said.