Arlington Massage Parlor Was Prostitution Front: DA

ARLINGTON – The owner of an Arlington massage parlor was arrested Wednesday in connection with a large-scale human trafficking operation in greater Boston, the Middlesex District Attorney's office said. Dan T. Zheng, 47, owner of Lisa Massage Therapy on Massachusetts Avenue, was arrested at Rose Health Spa in Boston Wednesday.

She was turned over to Arlington police to be arraigned in Cambridge District Court on charges of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, deriving support from prostitution and procuring support for prostitution, according to the DA's office.

Zheng also owns massage parlors in Stoneham and Dracut. Six female workers were found in the four spas after months of investigation.

"The defendant in this case was allegedly using businesses in four communities as a front to provide illegal sexual services for a fee while exploiting the women who were employed by her in the process," District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office said after Zheng is arraigned in Cambridge, she'll face similar charges in Boston.

In June, the FBI Boston Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Task Force and Malden police began watching the massage parlors. Police said they learned that clients were being offered and accepting sexual services after scheduled massages for additional fees.

Investigators said Zheng was in charge of the day-to-day operations at the parlors and that, as part of running the business, she scheduled appointments and transported employees from Boston to the massage parlors for work.

Zheng is also accused of paying the massage therapists a minimal fee and keeping the rest of the money for the services they performed.

"Motivated by profit, Ms. Zheng ran an extensive criminal operation taking advantage of the vulnerable young women who worked for her by selling them for sex," Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division, said in a statement. "Human trafficking is a crime that happens all around us, often in plain sight, impacting the safety of our neighborhoods and our quality of life. When human beings are treated as commodities, they are not only being abused physically, but emotionally and financially."

Jenna Fisher (Patch Staff) contributed to this report.

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