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SALT LAKE CITY — Three women who police say are associated with six different Utah massage parlors have been arrested for investigation of exploiting prostitutes and laundering money.
Lianfang Feng, 54, Ruixue Chen, 37, and Xiuyun Huo, 45, were arrested Wednesday in the case.
"Several female victims" of "a large human trafficking enterprise" at six northern Utah locations were offered shelter, medical care and other services, according to a statement from the Utah Attorney General's Office.
"The women victims, in this case, were suffering in plain sight," Leo Lucey, chief of the attorney general's Criminal Investigations Division, said in the statement. "They were working in servitude and trapped in a criminal enterprise that was extensive and powerful. We are pleased that we are able to work with our law enforcement partners and the Asian Association of Utah as these women recover from the trauma they have endured."
West Valley police said they received a handwritten letter in April written by a woman who identified herself only by a first name and said she worked at GJO Massage, 2101 W. 3500 South in West Valley City, according to a police booking affidavit for Chen. Police wrote that the woman said the business is owned by Huo, who also goes by Nancy.
In the letter, the woman said Huo is a "bad boss," and that her husband "finds girls in Los Angeles and brings them to Utah to work," according to the affidavit. The woman said she was deceived by Huo's husband, because he offered her a job doing massages, but when she arrived in Utah to work, she was asked to perform sex acts, the affidavit states.
In the letter, the woman said she is also sometimes taken to the Lavender Massage parlor, 359 E. State Road in American Fork, to work for Huo's friend, known as Wendy, according to police.
"(The woman) stated she wants to go home and requested law enforcement assistance," the affidavit says. Police said the woman who wrote the letter has not yet been identified and her whereabouts are unknown.
After receiving the letter, West Valley police, along with agents from Reyes's office, began investigating the massage businesses. Agents conducted multiple undercover operations in April and July and were offered sexual acts in exchange for money, according to the affidavit. On one occasion in August, police say Huo herself offered an agent a sexual act in exchange for money.
Investigators identified Feng as an associate of Huo's. Feng owns Magic Massage and Blue Spot Spa in Salt Lake City, as well as Oneway Massage in Taylorsville, police said. She has been a subject of two criminal investigations in Salt Lake City, as well as one in Georgia, according to an arrest affidavit.
Agents conducted undercover operations at all three of Feng's businesses and were offered sexual acts in exchange for money at all three, the affidavit alleges. Agents surveilling her businesses and home also reported seeing her transporting Asian women from her home to her businesses, and then back to her home at the end of the night.
Agents served a search warrant at Feng's home Wednesday and found thousands of dollars in cash, as well as bank cards and documents confirming that she is affiliated with the three massage parlors, the affidavit said. More than $100,000 was seized, according to the Utah Attorney General's Office.
Investigators also identified Chen as the woman referred to as Wendy in the letter. American Fork police were investigating Lavender Massage, Chen's business, in April, and Chen was arrested in the case, but no charges were filed at that time.
In April and May, Chen was observed transporting women between Feng's home and her businesses in Salt Lake City, according to the affidavit.
In August, an undercover agent went into Lavender Massage on two separate occasions, and police allege that Chen offered the agent sex acts in exchange for money both times.
Agents served search warrants Wednesday at Lavender Massage and at Chen's home and found cash and financial documents associated with the massage business, the affidavit says. Police also wrote that they found phone numbers associated with Feng and Huo on Chen's phone, as well as messages from Chen to another woman telling her how to open massage parlors and avoid suspicion.
Agents said that during the investigation, they spoke with another woman who said she was hired at Lavender Massage to perform massages, but after three or four days working there, Chen approached her and encouraged her about perform sex acts.
"Approximately one week ago, (the woman) was advised by Chen she would be terminated if she chose not to perform sex acts for their (clients)," the affidavit said.
Feng and Chen were arrested Wednesday for investigation of exploitation of a prostitute, laundering money, maintaining a pattern of unlawful activity, prostitution and maintaining a public nuisance, according to arrest reports. Arrest information was not available for Huo as of Wednesday.
Victims and witnesses are still being identified in the cases, according to the affidavits.
