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March 22, 2007

Six charged in multi-agency probe targeting brothels in five Orange County and Inland Empire cities

FULLERTON, Calif. – Six defendants have been arrested and charged for their role in operating 10 Orange County and Inland Empire brothels that billed themselves as “massage parlors” and “acupuncture clinics” and employed female Chinese nationals to work as prostitutes.

The charges are the result of a three-year investigation involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Anaheim Police Department (APD), and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) into a far-reaching prostitution enterprise that advertised in local newspapers offering “Beautiful Girls” and “Young Chinese Ladies.” 

Last week, officers from numerous Southern California law enforcement agencies searched four brothels and four homes.  In addition to the arrests, the enforcement action led to the seizure of more than $44,000 in cash and multiple bank accounts.  Assisting in the operation were the police departments of Alhambra, Montebello, Monterey Park, Orange, Santa Ana, and Tustin, as well as the sheriff’s departments of Orange and Riverside counties.

“The crimes committed by these defendants have a detrimental impact on the quality of life in our neighborhoods, degrade the women involved, and often bring other criminal activity into the area,” said William J. Hayes, assistant special agent in charge for the ICE Office of Investigations in Orange County.  “ICE will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to attack and dismantle criminal enterprises that prey on the vulnerable and threaten the quality of life in our communities.”

Investigators say Jian Shi, 49, of Montebello, owned the brothels and served as the ringleader of the scheme.  Case documents indicate that, in a two-month period, Shi purchased approximately 7,500 square feet of Kirkland plastic food wrap to be used in place of condoms by the brothel’s clients.

“I’m particularly concerned with the fact that defendant Shi was heard coaching one of his prostitutes on how to manipulate the justice system,” said Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. “This is a case about protecting our neighborhoods, our businesses, and basic human rights.  This is a case about protecting the integrity of our justice system.”

The other defendants in the case include:  Guo Hua Chen, 56, of Monterey Park and Hong Jun Bai, 42, of Rowland Heights, each of whom is charged with felony pimping and conspiracy to commit the crime of pimping; John Couch, 46, of San Clemente, who is charged with conspiring to commit the crime of pimping and being a felon in possession of a firearm; Yu Mei Cheng-Couch, 38, of San Clemente, who is charged with misdemeanor keeping a house of ill fame and felony conspiracy to commit the crime of pimping; and Xueyan Yu, 49, of Huntington Beach, who is charged with keeping a house of ill fame.

According to investigators, Bai assisted Shi with the daily operation of the brothels, visiting the different locations to pick up money and reporting to Shi on the number of customers.  Chen, a licensed acupuncturist, is accused of using his license to give the appearance of legitimacy to each of the business locations.  No medical or acupuncture tools were found during the search at any of the purported clinics.  Couch and Cheng-Couch are accused of running the Healing Therapy massage brothel in Dana Point, and sharing the earnings of the prostitutes with Shi.  Yu is accused of working at the Tustin brothel and facilitating sex acts between customers and prostitutes.

Below are the names and addresses of the brothels targeted in the probe and their dates of operation:

  1. G&G Acupuncture Office; 1085 N Harbor Blvd., Anaheim  - 07/11/06 - present
  2. Guo’s Acupuncture Therapy Clinic; 1834 W. Lincoln, Ste. “I,” Anaheim - 02/22/05 - present
  3. Guo’s Acupuncture Therapy Clinic; 1834 W. Lincoln, Ste. “O,” Anaheim - 02/22/05 - present
  4. Luo Luo’s Acupuncture Therapy Clinic; 710 S. Brookhurst, Anaheim - 03/07/05 - 03/28/06
  5. SM Acupuncture Clinic; 215 N. State College Blvd., Anaheim - 12/29/05 – 03/28/06
  6. WF Acupuncture Clinic; 1737 W. Romneya Dr., Anaheim - 08/22/05 – 07/27/06
  7. Healing Therapy Massage; 34213 Pacific Coast Hwy., Dana Point - 10/24/05 - 08/14/06
  8. Eastern Acupuncture Therapy Clinic; 638 W. Collins, Orange - 04/10/04 – 09/24/04
  9. Magic Touch Body Care Center; 42480 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage - 10/11/05 - present
  10. Unnamed; 1101 Bryan Ave., Tustin - 06/7/06 – 10/18/06

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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