Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) Taipei prosecutors indicted three Taiwanese on Wednesday for allegedly recruiting and sending women from Taiwan to the United States and other countries to engage in prostitution.

The three suspects, two men who were respectively surnamed Lin (林) and Chen (陳), and a woman surnamed Lin (林), allegedly used social media to recruit women to go overseas to work as prostitutes, escorts, or at hostess bars by promising them high salaries in a short period of time, according to the indictment issued by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office.

The three suspects then booked flights for the women and arranged their required visas and accommodations, the indictment stated.

About 50 women, aged 25 to 35, traveled to the U.S., Canada and other countries to engage in prostitution from 2018 to early 2020 under the trio's arrangements, the indictment cited investigators as saying.

The women's clients had to pay US$400-US$500 per hour in the U.S. or CA$290-CA$320 (US$230-US$254) per hour in Canada, which the women were able to keep 60 percent of, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors charged the three suspects for breaching sexual morality under the Criminal Code. The maximum sentence for the charge is five years in prison plus a NT$100,000 fine.

The cross-border prostitution ring was busted by Taiwan police in February after receiving information from the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) on Taiwanese women being involved in prostitution in the U.S. by taking advantage of the U.S. visa waiver privilege granted to Taiwan passport holders, according to the Criminal Investigation Bureau.

AIT represents U.S. interests in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties.