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vice trade

Convicted pimp's Irish escort business turned over €6 million in one year

It is illegal to advertise prostitution in Ireland.

CONVICTED PIMP PETER McCormick, owner of an escort website, has moved his company to Spain as strict laws in the UK and Ireland hindered his attempts to keep the website live.

The site, which gives a detailed breakdown of when and where women are selling “hourly dates”, had to be hosted in the UK as it is illegal to advertise sex in Ireland. The strict hosting laws led McCormick to move the business to London and then on to Wales.

Similar legislation was brought in to the UK which made advertising the adult industry more difficult. This led the firm to move to Spain. The site is now live, being hosted from an address in Spain under the company name Lazarus Trading SL.

McCormick pleaded guilty to organising prostitution between September 10, 1999 and April 14, 2000. He was given a two year suspended sentence.

Lazarus trading has been “a cash cow” for the sex industry, according to Ruhama CEO Sarah Benson.

The firm turned over €6,026,465 in 2015. It has equity of over €3 million.

figures Earnings at Lazarus Trading. InfoEmpresa.com InfoEmpresa.com

McCormick, along with his partner Audrey Campbell, has been running a number of business linked to the adult industry for a number of years.

Campbell’s business interests included companies titled ‘Callgirls’ and ‘Smut’. Some of the businesses, which all are listed to an address in Bray, Wicklow have ceased trading.

audrey campbell Vision-Net Vision-Net

Lazarus Trading is a registered business in Las Palmas, Spain. Latest figures have shown how the company had a turnover of €6 million in 2015.

According to company documents, Lazuras engages in “activities of advertising agencies, activities of call centres, computer programming, computer consulting activities, data processing, hosting and other related activities”.

The company employs between 10 and 49 people and is expanding its business through Europe, according to its website. However, when contacted on several platforms by TheJournal.ie including by phone and their official Facebook page, there was no comment to be had.

Read: ‘I really love Ireland’ – Trump says he’s coming to Ireland after invite from ‘new friend’ Enda Kenny >

Read: Almost a third of people who died on the roads in 2014 had alcohol in their system >

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