(UDHAYAM, SINGAPORE) – A 45-year-old German businessman was charged on Wednesday (Feb 15) for allegedly organising tours overseas involving sex with minors.
Michael Frank Hartung faces six charges – two for promoting sex tours, two for the possession of 245 obscene films and two for the possession of eight uncensored films.
Hartung, a Singapore permanent resident, allegedly met two Singaporean men in September 2015 at Starbucks in Raffles City Shopping Centre to promote the sex tours.
In April last year, he met another two Singapore permanent residents at a bar along Mackenzie Road to promote similar tours, court documents showed.
He was arrested after investigators seized obscene and uncensored films from his home at Simei Green condominium last August.
Hartung’s lawyer said his client plans to contest the charges.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Hartung is a co-founder of business consulting firm OPTIIS. He also spent more than two decades at Deutsche Bank until September last year, starting out as a relationship manager before rising to the post of vice president of finance.
Hartung is on S$15,000 bail, furnished by his wife, who is also a permanent resident. He will next appear in court on Feb 28.
If convicted of promoting commercial sex tours involving minors, the German could be jailed up to 10 years and fined. – CNA/mz
