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Ocean County Massage Parlor Raided in Prostitution Case
The U.S. Attorney General's Office announced that four individuals have been charged with running a chain of massage parlors that doubled as prostitution houses, one of which was located in Ocean County.
One count of conspiracy to commit interstate travel or transportation in aid of a racketeering enterprise has been brought against Zhejun Piao, 37, a Chinese national; Miyeon Choi, 37, a South Korean national; Shangxian Cui, 36, a Chinese national; and Meixiang Jin, 34, of Palisades Park, according to U.S. Attorney Phillip Sellinger.
After being taken into custody on Thursday, all four appeared in federal court in Newark today for the first time before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark III. According to Sellinger, all four were freed.
The federal lawsuit states that the four were involved in the ownership, operation, and financial gain of illegal massage parlors or spas in New Jersey and New York, which had been providing sexual services for payment since at least May 2017.
The accusation states that the spas advertised their sexual services and the ladies who would perform them on social media profiles.
The spas included in the complaint are Bergen Acupressure in Fairview; Good Day Spa in East Brunswick; Hawaii Spa in Edgewater; Gold Spa in Passaic; 785 Spa in Passaic; New Soothing Day Spa in New Rochelle, New York; Coco Spa in Paterson; and Spa Wellness in Toms River.
Spa Wellness was located in South Toms River at "GSP Exit 80 across from Wawa," according to archived tweets from the spa's account on X, now known as Twitter, which were sent as recently as July 24. Despite this, the complaint cites Spa Wellness as being in Toms River. Twitter has terminated the account.
The complaint states that the spas advertised their sexual services and the ladies who would perform them on social media profiles. According to the criminal complaint, several of them had pictures of the ladies that were either fully or partially nude, as well as their addresses.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, investigators have gathered evidence demonstrating that all four of the accused individuals were directly aware of and involved in the prostitution enterprise.
For instance, records and emails seized by federal authorities indicate that Choi and Piao sent cryptocurrencies to an internet advertising company, and other emails reveal that Choi received what appear to be draft ads for the spas. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Cui was also seen by law officials bringing goods to the spas, such as mouthwash and paper towels, making suspicious cash pickups, and depositing more than $50,000 in cash to a bank account with Jin.
Conspiracy to commit interstate travel or transportation in support of a racketeering operation is punishable by up to a $250,000 fine and a maximum five years in prison.
