Prostitutes cash in with gift cards to avoid prosecution, police say

The world's oldest profession still is cash-friendly, but police departments along the Airport Corridor notice a new trend in paying prostitutes: gift cards.

"Instead of having a bunch of cash around, they have a handful of gift cards," Moon police Chief Leo McCarthy said. "You automatically believe cash is an ill-gotten gain. But if you see a couple of gift cards, you might not think twice. It's just another game people play."

Since 2009, police arrested more than 100 people on prostitution-related charges in jurisdictions along Interstate 376 between the city of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh International Airport in Findlay, according to statistics from police in Moon, Robinson and Carnegie. Departments in Findlay, Green Tree and North Fayette said they've also noticed the gift card trend.

"It's becoming more difficult to find cash on them," North Fayette police Chief Jeffrey Falconer said.

Gift cards, sometimes called stored-value cards, easily are obtained and can be reloaded with amounts of money, McCarthy said. Visa, MasterCard and American Express issue the most popular types, he said.

"They're not cards to Hoss's (Steak and Sea House) or anything like that," McCarthy joked.

In 2006, the Justice Department warned that prepaid gift cards make ideal instruments for money laundering from illegal activity with little risk of discovery and seizure by police.

"The ones we're working are still using cash, but (gift cards) may be next the next trend," Findlay police Chief Jesse Lesko said. "They don't like to give up the $5,000 or $6,000 they earned over a weekend."

Pittsburgh police have not noticed an increase of gift cards on prostitution suspects.

"But, it definitely would make sense. In general, they would think it wouldn't be as suspect as having a large amount of cash," said Cmdr. Cheryl Doubt, who heads the bureau's narcotics and vice division. "They're smarter than we give them credit for sometimes."

Moon police made one prostitution arrest from 2004 through 2007, but made 111 since -- including 54 last year and 18 so far this year.

Departments along the Airport Corridor often work together as a "mini-task force," McCarthy said. If they aren't responding to specific complaints from hoteliers, detectives usually start investigations on the Internet.

"We could be up there everyday, to be honest," Falconer said. "They'll always be there. It's the oldest profession, but we're being more proactive."