Arrests made during investigation of prostitution happening at massage parlors

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Multiple people have been arrested following an investigation into prostitution happening at Baton Rouge area massage parlors.

According to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office, deputies arrested An-Kuo Ho, 62, on Thursday, March 2, and Chengying Hu, 49, on Friday, March 3, and charged them each with promotion of prostitution, pandering, and money laundering.

Hu, Ho, and two others—Huang Weng, 39; and Yong Li, 40— controlled and maintained businesses that profited from customers being charged a fee for services that included prostitution, and they used those proceeds to further criminal activity within the businesses, according to the sheriff’s office.

Detectives said they began investigating possible prostitution at Wellness Spa, later called H & Z Spa, on Bluebonnet Boulevard in early September 2022.

Officials reportedly connected Ho and Hu to the business, as well as two other massage parlors in a strip mall on McGehee Drive, Maple Leaf Massage and Orange Leaf Spa.

The La. Board of Massage Therapy did not list any active license information for the three massage parlors, officials said.

Ho was already known to law enforcement for his connection to a previous case of prostitution and money laundering where he and a suspect were investigated by Louisiana State Police for “bill stuffing” at the L’Auberge casino, records show.

Detectives went undercover in October at the Rainbow Spa Li, previously named Y & L Body Relaxation, where prostitution was also observed, according to arrest records.

Officials said they connected Hu to Rainbow Spa in February after which detectives executed search warrants of Hu’s home on Newcastle Avenue and at Rainbow Spa Li on Airline Highway.

Ho refused to speak to detectives and did not provide her driver’s license, they added.

Evidence showed Ho made numerous stops at Hu’s home, and detectives were able to establish Hu as Ho’s co-conspirator in the investigation, they explained.

Hu had also attempted to establish another parlor on Staring Lane, according to information detectives received from the La. Board of Massage Therapy.

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