6 events in Passaic County with a date

Illicit massage parlors found to be rampant

State investigation reveals litany of crimes going on in plan sight

By: Jenna Caleron
Asbury Park Press
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Behind the darkened windows and hidden side doors throughout hundreds of towns in New Jersey, an underground sex business thrives.
..... It holds women against their will, sidesteps tax laws and fuels organized crime's pockets, says the state's watchdog agency.
..... A new report by the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation details a litany of corms in plain sight from Bergen County to Atlantic City and at Shore stops along the Garden State Parkway.
..... The underworld of illicit massage businesses not only is participating in fraud and tax evasion, the report said, but also appears to be a hub for kidnapping and human trafficking.
..... A multi-year investigation by the commission looked into about 250 massage businesses across the state, after legislators became concerned about the industry's veiled operations, said the commission's spokesperson, Kathy Henessy-Riley. Key findings:
* New Jersey has high standards for massage therapists but has little oversight of the actual businesses in which they operate.
* Many of the women involved in the illicit parlor work are brought in from out of state, particularly from a section of New York referred to as the "Chinese Manhattan."
* Tax evasion by business owners allows them to lavish lifestyles with under-the-table payments.
..... the report drew form interviews with local police, health inspectors and fire marshals, along with investigators who visited suspicious massage businesses to conduct surveillance and obtained sworn testimony form employees. Confidential sources were also tapped to proved firsthand information on how these businesses circumvented laws governing the commerce.
..... The money to be made by running these massage parlors has fueled the growth of the underground industry. Nationwide, the number had swelled to an estimate 13,000 as of 2022, an increase of around 38% form 2019, the report said.
..... The SCI called these illicit businesses a blight on communities and pointed to the effects on the victims involved.
..... "The vulnerability of there circumstances, including financial hardship, debt and shame, often led them to suffer silently," said Chair tiffany Williams Brewer. "For women who managed to escape the industry, they remained traumatized, with few options to move forward with economic independence."
..... Hundreds of massage and bodywork businesses were registered with the New Jersey Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy as this September, [2024] Hennessy-Riley said. Investigators used reviewed posted for over 300 Jersey-based massage businesses on an explicit sex-buyer website over the past tow years to determine which businesses to scrutinize.

New York-based but New Jersey-bound

..... Many of the female worked in New Jersey are not there of their own will. Instead, they are victims of coercive labor conditions and human trafficking, the SCI said. Driven into the industry by financial hardship and undocumented immigration status, the woman - most of who are from China or South Korea - often speak little or no English and have limited income and education. Targeted by others in their ethnic community, many women who work in New jersey massage businesses live in or are part of a trafficking network based in Flushing, New York, the commission said.
..... 'Sometimes called the 'Chinese Manhattan,' Flushing is an active center of commerce, finance and transportation with a population that is more than two-thirds Asian, comprised mainly of Chinese and Koreans," the report said. "It is also consider the 'epicenter of trafficking for the entire country.'"
..... A June 2024 search of a state database for actively licensed message therapists, administered by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, revealed that more licensees listed their addresses at a location in Flushing than from any other place, including those within the Garden State.
..... "State regulations of the Massage industry in New Jersey has rigid standards for massage therapists yet provides minimal oversight of the businesses that operate in it," the report said.
..... This lends itself to parlors operating under false ownership or within rented licenses, cash payments under the table and suspicious practices like darkening windows and obscuring the view from the street, the commission said.
..... to combat the growth and illegal operations of these massage parlors inside their municipal boundaries, some towns have enacted laws to verse or even prohibit massage therapy businesses, and most require them to be inspected, but parameters vary.
..... "Several of the municipalities adopted ordinances that prohibit on-site sleeping quarters, long hours of operations, locked doors and sexual activity massacre facilities," the report said. "The city of Bayonne in Hudson County prohibits massage businesses altogether."
..... Edison is a prime example of the success of strict requirements, with township officials having shut down around 20 illicit massage businesses and prevented one from opening since 2022, the report said.

Tax evasion and fraud

..... While the state strictly regulates massage therapists, there is minimal oversight for businesses, owners and operators, the report said. The weak and fragmented framework that supports the industry was undermined in some instances, enabling corrupt operators to engage in unlawful conduct, including fraud and tax evasion.
..... Illicit business practices like operating primarily in cash, reporting little or no taxable income and installing straw owners to hide true ownership have resulted and allowed business owners to live lavish lifestyles despite having modest reportable incomes.
..... Some of the questionable massage establishments investigated ran mainly in cash and reported minimal wage or other tax-related information to government authorities, the report said.
..... "By paying employees in cash, the business owners avoided reporting their existence to federal and state authorities for state unemployment and disability funds and Social Security taxes," the report said.
..... "For workers who do not have legal status within the country, cash payments help them remain hidden form immigration authorities," ti said. "They also aid business operators in concealing illicit activity, including commercial sex sales."

Straw owners hide the truth

..... To get around licensing issues and background checks, some parlors will use straw owners, th4e commission said. This hides the true identity of the person operating the business.
..... Michael DeMaria served as the owner, at least on paper, of Evergreen Day Spa in Pleasantville and had registered several other New Jersey massage parlors and other businesses associated with Chun Yung Evans with the appropriate government entities, the report said. he also helped Evans secure a nearly $30,000 federal disaster relief loan during the COVID-19 pandemic for one of the spas registered in his name, which she later sued to open an unrelated business in another location.
..... DeMaria's role, he told the investigators, was mainly to help Evans fill out paperwork for the businesses to operate legally. Records reviewed during the investigation found that DeMaria was the registered agent for a now-closed Asian restaurant in Willamstown and at least two massage businesses: Aque Blue Day Spa in chill Hill and Rainbow Day Spa in Vineland.
..... Evans is the registered agent for Waterfall Therapy Day Spa in Mays Landing. However, DeMaria's home address appeared under her name instate of her own, raising legal implications and questions about the legitimacy of their business operations.
..... James Yoo monetized his state massage therapist license by renting it to numerous businesses in New Jersey and beyond, collecting tens of thousands of dollars by illicitly using his state-issued credentials while also evading rules and regulations, the report said. Financial records showed that Yoo got monthly payments ranging form $500 to $1,500 each from three massage parlors - including two in New Jersey - between January 2021 and May 2023, totaling $58,300.
..... Yoo also deposited 108 checks totaling 480,459.63 from 16 massage businesses between January 1, 2020, and October 25, 2021, the report said.

Proposed solutions

..... The SCI presented recommendation to Governor Phil Murphy, the 120 members of the Legislature, policymakers and other interested stakeholders.
..... In the case of illicit massage parlors, the commission offered the following recommendations:
1, Bolster and expand the state's oversight of massage therapy businesses.
2. Improve the massage therapist licensing process.
3. Facilitate and strengthen law enforcement investigation into human trafficking.
4. Study alternative methods to combat human trafficking and related issues.
..... "The commission urges the adoption of the proposed regulatory and legislative reforms to eradicate illicit massage businesses, to hold owners accountable for corrupt practices and to protect the women often targeted and victimized by traffickers," Williams Brewer said.

..... If you believe you have identified a trafficking victim, call the 24/7 toll-free New Jersey Human Trafficking Hotline at 855-END.NJ,HT (855-363-6548). for victim assistance call Covernant House at 862-240-2453.

HOME