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More than a dozen women are ready to testify against a Germantown man accused of luring them into prostitution, police say.

Arash Koraganie Ghulam Abbas, 31, was arrested Feb. 26 at his home in the 17800 block of Cormorant Lane and charged with four counts each of human trafficking and running a prostitution business, said Montgomery County Police Department Cpl. Dan Fitzgerald.

Abbas was one of six arrested in a recent Montgomery County Police investigation into people being forced into labor or sexual exploitation, also known as human trafficking.

The investigation led to the disruption of three such trafficking operations in Montgomery County, authorities said.

"These pimps, what they do, is put these girls in a world they don't know," Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said the women who worked as prostitutes for Abbas answered advertisements on Web sites like craigslist.org and backpage.com for quick money.

"With the economy the way it is, he was posting things like, ‘Who needs a sugar daddy?'" Fitzgerald said.

The other five arrested, according to Montgomery County Police, were:

Deangelo A. Bynum, 24, of Washington, D.C. He was charged with solicitation of a minor for prostitution after being arrested in Gaithersburg by an undercover officer posing as young girl, police said. Bynum had attempted to recruit the girl on facebook.com, requesting photos and money before she could work for him, police said.

Rodney Hubert, 34, of New York. He was charged with human trafficking of a 15-year-old female for prostitution. The teen was advertised on craigslist.org after she arrived in Maryland from New York.

Christy Elmes, 23, of the Bronx, N.Y. She was charged with human trafficking, sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree child abuse.

Katherine Mateo, 19, of the Bronx, N.Y. She was charged with human trafficking, sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree child abuse.

Tomika Powell, 21, of Montgomery, Ala. She was charged with human trafficking, sexual abuse of a minor and second-degree child abuse. Powell was also wanted for desertion from the U.S. Army, police said.

Authorities said the investigation in the Abbas case began last October and included police in Northern Virginia.

According to court records, Abbas was released from jail Feb. 26 on a $6,500 bond. He is expected in District Court in Rockville on April 12. Calls to Abbas' home on Tuesday, when the arrests were announced by the police, were not returned.

Abbas faces similar charges in Virginia and has a March 10 court date in Arlington, Va., to respond to a felony charge of receiving money from the services of a prostitute, said Theo Stamos, chief deputy of the Commonwealth Attorney's Office.

Hubert and Bynum were being held Tuesday at the Montgomery County Detention Center. Information on Elmes, Mateo and Powell was not available Tuesday.

Maryland's anti-trafficking laws were tightened in 2007. Trafficking of minors for prostitution is a felony; those convicted face up to 25 years in prison and a $15,000 fine. Trafficking of an adult is a misdemeanor, with penalties of up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Maryland legislators are working on several bills to crack down further on human trafficking, including Senate Bill 463. The bill could help stem these crimes because it calls for the forfeiture of money and property earned or used for human trafficking and prostitution.

Sen. Jennie M. Forehand (D-Dist. 17) is one of a handful of senators sponsoring Senate Bill 463, which was introduced by in February 2009 by Sen. Michael G. Lennett (D-Dist. 19), that would stiffen penalties.

"The bill would bring about the forfeiture of these businesses," Forehand said. "The stories we heard from the police last month were sad and we can't let this continue. It's not always foreign women being trafficked, it could be the kid next door to you."