This story is LONG (Sorry, but this is the short version).  And please don’t make an usual, silly-assed comments for I am seriously perplexed about what to do next, and I want constructive suggestions.  This is not another “Nigerian” email scam, for at first I assumed this story was an attempt to extract money from my good (but naïve) nature, but I have verified all the information about the passports, student visa, etc.  
   
 Until very recently, I was in Saint Petersburg, Russia, studying when I met Nikol, who, it turns out, was brand new to the business, only a few weeks.  But after a few meetings, she referred to “buying her time” from the agency, and she said that had to account for every minute.  I was not paying much attention but finally I asked her where her passport was-In Russian you must carry a passport or copy of it.  She said, “No honey, it is with my friend that brought me.  She collected my passport the day that I got to russia, thinking I won’t pay her money.  She said that when I finish paying she will I give it be….”  The light clicked!  This “friend” had stolen her passport and forced her into the sex industry.  Let me also clarify that Nikol has her own apartment, and she is not physically restrained.  She just cannot leave the country, she has no other income, and she could be arrested for prostitution, no passport original, or an expired visa.  If her “friend” has not renewed her visa (how can she as she has no time to study) she WILL be arrested when she tries to leave on a long-expired visa.  
   
 Her story is this:  She had a fight with her boyfriend in Nigeria, and instantly decided to accept a friend’s offer to get her into a Russian University, and a good job, but the “friend” did not tell her what the job was.  In late January, she flew to Saint Petersburg, where her “friend” took her passport, told Nikol that she owed $35,000 for fees, and immediately ordered her to start working as an escort.  Nikol was threatened when she initially refused, and her description of her initial customer was sickeningly graphic.    
   
 During our meeting, I was writing all this down, and she demanded that I erase all the information, making me promise NOT to do anything.  Nikol had known the “friend” in Nigeria, and said the woman’s family would hurt her family if Nikol did anything other than pay the debt.    
   
 Nikol has now said that she cannot start university until she pays her “friend,” and that’s going to take a long time.  She then plans to quit as soon as possible, get a job, and finish university, which is ridiculous since Russian jobs pay $2 per hour.  To me, her possibility of getting a university degree is non-existent.  But it seems to me that the major damage has already been done.  She has said that she hates the work, misses her freedom, and she feels dirty with clients.  
   
 I REPEPEATEDLY told her that I would take her on the train to Moscow, get her a duplicate passport, and put her on the plane for Lagos, so often that she threatened to never speak to me if I brought it up again.  I then told Nikol that I would offer the “friend” $10,000 for her passport, an offer which the friend rejected.  It was $35,000 or nothing.  
   
 Bound by promise, I kept quiet until I could keep silent no more, and here it gets absurd.  I agonized one morning until I decided I HAD to call the police.  Saint Petersburg has a special phone number for English speakers, and my Russian is not that good, but I found the number was disconnected.  I then twice called the police and asked, “по-английски (in English)” only to have the police hang up! (Can you image what would happen in the US if a 911 operator hung up?)  I then tried to find an English-speaking criminal lawyer to convince Nikol that she was not a criminal, only the victim, only to find that Saint Petersburg, full of corporate lawyers, has few criminal lawyers.  I also wrote the Nigerian embassy twice asking how to replace the stolen passport, neither email of which was answered.  
   
 I finally called the US consulate, to see if it knew a Police department phone number to call.  The consul himself was on the phone in two minutes, arranging a meeting with security that afternoon.  I described the situation to the consulate security officer who said he would write a report to the Saint Petersburg police as a courtesy.  He explained that the US embassy had to keep out of the investigation.  
   
 The security officer was not encouraging.  He said that this thing happens often in Russia, and he wasn’t sure if the police would do anything.  He suggested that I go to the local police station and file a report, but no one could tell me where the police station was located (weird!).  
   
 Explaining the story to another student in Saint Petersburg, who is also an American criminal lawyer, he referred the matter to a friend here in Washington with connections to the Nigerian embassy, but I have heard nothing.    
   
 I didn’t want to pay $10,000 for someone else’s passport, but I would have done it if it had gotten her out of Russia.  But I absolutely refuse to pay $35,000 blackmail money though Nikol is asking for money.  The amount of money is absolutely absurd; besides I would be acquiescing to blackmail.  The “friend” has already done this to a second Nigerian, and she will do it to more until she is stopped.  
   
 As I told the consulate security officer, this woman is not my relative.  I owe her nothing.  I don’t want to know any of this problem, but I can’t just walk away without trying to help her.  The problem is: (1) she absolutely refuses to accept the simplest solution (fly home using a duplicate passport), and (2) I am out of other possible solutions.  
   
 I have heard neither from the police, the American embassy, the Nigerians, nor the lawyer’s friend.  Russian has no organizations to aid such women.  What else can I do?  Visit the Nigerian embassy here?  Any ideas?  
 

I was in CA, and was having issues finding someone who spoke English.    
   
 So I will give him benefit of doubt on that one..

This story is LONG (Sorry, but this is the short version).  And please don’t make an usual, silly-assed comments for I am seriously perplexed about what to do next, and I want constructive suggestions.  This is not another “Nigerian” email scam, for at first I assumed this story was an attempt to extract money from my good (but naïve) nature, but I have verified all the information about the passports, student visa, etc.  
   
 Until very recently, I was in Saint Petersburg, Russia, studying when I met Nikol, who, it turns out, was brand new to the business, only a few weeks.  But after a few meetings, she referred to “buying her time” from the agency, and she said that had to account for every minute.  I was not paying much attention but finally I asked her where her passport was-In Russian you must carry a passport or copy of it.  She said, “No honey, it is with my friend that brought me.  She collected my passport the day that I got to russia, thinking I won’t pay her money.  She said that when I finish paying she will I give it be….”  The light clicked!  This “friend” had stolen her passport and forced her into the sex industry.  Let me also clarify that Nikol has her own apartment, and she is not physically restrained.  She just cannot leave the country, she has no other income, and she could be arrested for prostitution, no passport original, or an expired visa.  If her “friend” has not renewed her visa (how can she as she has no time to study) she WILL be arrested when she tries to leave on a long-expired visa.  
   
 Her story is this:  She had a fight with her boyfriend in Nigeria, and instantly decided to accept a friend’s offer to get her into a Russian University, and a good job, but the “friend” did not tell her what the job was.  In late January, she flew to Saint Petersburg, where her “friend” took her passport, told Nikol that she owed $35,000 for fees, and immediately ordered her to start working as an escort.  Nikol was threatened when she initially refused, and her description of her initial customer was sickeningly graphic.    
   
 During our meeting, I was writing all this down, and she demanded that I erase all the information, making me promise NOT to do anything.  Nikol had known the “friend” in Nigeria, and said the woman’s family would hurt her family if Nikol did anything other than pay the debt.    
   
 Nikol has now said that she cannot start university until she pays her “friend,” and that’s going to take a long time.  She then plans to quit as soon as possible, get a job, and finish university, which is ridiculous since Russian jobs pay $2 per hour.  To me, her possibility of getting a university degree is non-existent.  But it seems to me that the major damage has already been done.  She has said that she hates the work, misses her freedom, and she feels dirty with clients.  
   
 I REPEPEATEDLY told her that I would take her on the train to Moscow, get her a duplicate passport, and put her on the plane for Lagos, so often that she threatened to never speak to me if I brought it up again.  I then told Nikol that I would offer the “friend” $10,000 for her passport, an offer which the friend rejected.  It was $35,000 or nothing.  
   
 Bound by promise, I kept quiet until I could keep silent no more, and here it gets absurd.  I agonized one morning until I decided I HAD to call the police.  Saint Petersburg has a special phone number for English speakers, and my Russian is not that good, but I found the number was disconnected.  I then twice called the police and asked, “по-английски (in English)” only to have the police hang up! (Can you image what would happen in the US if a 911 operator hung up?)  I then tried to find an English-speaking criminal lawyer to convince Nikol that she was not a criminal, only the victim, only to find that Saint Petersburg, full of corporate lawyers, has few criminal lawyers.  I also wrote the Nigerian embassy twice asking how to replace the stolen passport, neither email of which was answered.  
   
 I finally called the US consulate, to see if it knew a Police department phone number to call.  The consul himself was on the phone in two minutes, arranging a meeting with security that afternoon.  I described the situation to the consulate security officer who said he would write a report to the Saint Petersburg police as a courtesy.  He explained that the US embassy had to keep out of the investigation.  
   
 The security officer was not encouraging.  He said that this thing happens often in Russia, and he wasn’t sure if the police would do anything.  He suggested that I go to the local police station and file a report, but no one could tell me where the police station was located (weird!).  
   
 Explaining the story to another student in Saint Petersburg, who is also an American criminal lawyer, he referred the matter to a friend here in Washington with connections to the Nigerian embassy, but I have heard nothing.    
   
 I didn’t want to pay $10,000 for someone else’s passport, but I would have done it if it had gotten her out of Russia.  But I absolutely refuse to pay $35,000 blackmail money though Nikol is asking for money.  The amount of money is absolutely absurd; besides I would be acquiescing to blackmail.  The “friend” has already done this to a second Nigerian, and she will do it to more until she is stopped.  
   
 As I told the consulate security officer, this woman is not my relative.  I owe her nothing.  I don’t want to know any of this problem, but I can’t just walk away without trying to help her.  The problem is: (1) she absolutely refuses to accept the simplest solution (fly home using a duplicate passport), and (2) I am out of other possible solutions.  
   
 I have heard neither from the police, the American embassy, the Nigerians, nor the lawyer’s friend.  Russian has no organizations to aid such women.  What else can I do?  Visit the Nigerian embassy here?  Any ideas?