Life at a chain of massage parlors raided last month was secretive and salacious for the Asian women who worked there, court documents reveal.
Details in a master affidavit released by the U.S. attorney's office disclosed weeks of surveillance and wiretaps that led to the arrest of principals in what prosecutors describe as a prostitution ring fronted as a chain of massage parlors run by Stroudsburg man Lih Kang Shen. The operation spanned from the Oriental Body Works in Moosic and Ichiban Spa in Plains Twp. to the Poconos and beyond.
Read the arrest warrant & affidavit HERE
Besides Mr. Shen, of 106 Fox Chase Road, the indictment charged John Vincent Ferraro, 45, of Bartonsville; Young Ja Youn, 45, aka "Micky," of Stroudsburg; Yu Cheng Lee, 35, aka "Ricky," of Tannersville, and Cin Hsia Chen, 56, aka "Judy," of Briarwood, N.Y. If convicted, each faces a possible maximum sentence of up to 70 years in prison and fines of up to $1.75 million.
The 98-page affidavit gives a glimpse into the hidden world of the massage parlors - revealing they were staffed mostly by illegal immigrants from Korea, Taiwan, China or elsewhere in Asia, after being lured to the United States with the promise of legitimate work. Instead, the affidavit states, they found themselves in a form of indentured servitude and were required to live at the massage parlors. And, the women were prohibited from emerging from the parlors for fear of being seen and drawing suspicion.
While their only income came from tips paid by customers for sex acts, court papers state, even that money was seized by Mr. Shen and his small cadre of employees to pay for room and board, transportation and even condoms.
The women's lives were compressed into backpacks that included a few personal items, but mostly tools of the trade - condoms, oil and lingerie.
They were shuttled from parlor to parlor to motel room and even traded with other brothel owners, chauffeured in a minivan by Mr. Shen's employee Mr. Ferraro, according to court papers.
"Bring that Thai girl from Wilkes-Barre to 611," Mr. Shen would tell Mr. Ferraro, a characteristic instruction about which women would be taken where, according to court papers.
Going back at least to 2008, Mr. Ferraro kept a network of seven massage parlors in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York and New Jersey stocked with food for the sequestered workers and condoms, referred to in wiretapped conversations as "tools," court documents stated. Every week or so, Mr. Ferraro headed out with a minivan to rotate women among the parlors in order to give customers a new group of women, according to the affidavit.
Mr. Shen's live-in girlfriend, Ms. Youn, screened clients who responded to advertisements, mostly placed online by Mr. Shen's cousin, Mr. Lee, court documents said. Authorities also allege Ms. Chen allowed many assets to be placed in her name as a means of laundering money.
Any client who came in for a massage paid between $40 and $70 as a door charge. While a sex act would only be delivered for an agreed-upon "tip," Mr. Shen's operation got a piece of that, too, billing the employees for room, board and transportation. Mr. Shen and his team believed that arrangement allowed them to claim they had no idea illegal acts were being performed in the back, according to the affidavit.
The principals enjoyed a steady stream of cash, according to court records, with Mr. Ferraro estimating the operation grossed "well over $1 million a year." Mr. Shen purchased a 2010 Porsche Panamera Turbo, a 2011 BMW 550i and other vehicles.
The operation began to break down after a March 18 raid at the Oriental Body Works in Moosic when an undercover state police officer was offered a price list: $40 for a "manual release," $100 for intercourse. The raid that followed found condoms hidden in cosmetics containers and used condoms hidden in soft drink cans, court documents said.
As they felt the pressure of the investigation closing in on them, court documents described how Mr. Ferraro and Mr. Shen practiced their alibi - that they were running legitimate massage businesses and couldn't be held responsible for what their employees might have done.
Meanwhile, customer counts were down, and Mr. Shen and his inner circle began considering operating out of hotels "like in the old days," avoiding utility costs, according to court records. Operating out of four New Jersey motels and in Trotter's Inn in Moosic, court documents say, the operations were still advertised online as a massage service, but the pretense was otherwise dropped: Customers could now be serviced in 10 minutes, versus the massage and careful negotiations that often accompanied encounters in the massage parlors.
All five suspects were indicted on charges they conspired to control the women, induce them to travel in "interstate and foreign commerce" for prostitution, then laundered the proceeds from the activity.
U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith said last month 12 illegal immigrants allegedly involved in the prostitution ring are being detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, pending further investigation. U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Heidi Havens said Thursday the office would not comment about the whereabouts or well-being of the women who staffed the massage parlors.
Brett J. Riegel, representing Ms. Chen, said he didn't review the just-unsealed affidavit. Attempts to reach Mr. Shen's attorney, T. Axel Jones, were unsuccessful.
Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com
No comments:
Post a Comment