Prostitution investigation leads to arrests

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Authorities charged four people Friday in connection with bringing women from China to the Kansas City area for prostitution after an investigation that led to raids at a string of Kansas businesses billed as massage parlors.

Authorities say they took 15 women from the businesses. The women, all employees, are not facing charges, FBI spokesman Jeff Lanza said.

Those charged Friday were Ling Xu, 45, Zhong Yan Liu, 35, Cheng Tang, 21, all Chinese citizens living in Overland Park, Kan., and Hongmei Madole, 31, a native of China married to a U.S. citizen and living in Olathe, Kan. They were charged with transporting people across state lines and national borders for the purpose of prostitution.

The defendants made their initial appearances Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Kansas City. An interpreter spoke to them in Chinese, explaining the court papers and relaying the judge's questions.

None of the four have attorneys, and they asked the court to appoint lawyers.

Bond for Madole was set at $50,000 cash. Prosecutors asked that Liu be held without bond, although they didn't say why.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Larsen set a follow-up hearing for Tuesday to determine bond for Liu and the other defendants and to decide if the case will be sent to a grand jury.

A man and woman who were in court Friday to support Madole declined to comment. The defendants did not comment on the allegations during the hearing and were quickly led out of the courtroom afterward.

The businesses operated in Johnson County, Kan., mostly at strip malls. In all, federal agents and police officers raided 12 businesses and four homes Thursday.

Lanza said the female workers found during the sting were given shelter, food, clothing and counseling. Authorities are interviewing the women about activities at the businesses, he said.

Investigators would not comment Friday on the citizenship status of the women other than to say that some had "overstayed" their time in the U.S.

The businesses had drawn the attention of neighbors for some time, investigators said.

A criminal complaint was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, alleging that the four defendants brought women across national borders and state lines, including into Kansas through Missouri, for prostitution for more than a year.

Federal Prosecutor John F. Wood said investigators believe the massage parlors were "in fact, nothing more than a front for highly profitable and thriving prostitution organizations."

He said an 18-month investigation involving local, state and federal authorities found that the women were brought from China into the United States, primarily San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City. They then flew to Kansas City and were driven to Johnson County, Kansas, Wood said.

"This is exactly the kind of case where cooperation between the federal government and our state and local law enforcement is essential," Wood said, during a news conference Friday morning at the federal courthouse in Kansas City. "Using the resources and the expertise of the federal government, we were able to track the flow of people and money across international and state boundaries and strike at the heart of the organization, so that (the suspects) can't simply shut down in one jurisdiction and move to another jurisdiction and continue to do business."

An undercover officer visited three of the businesses several times between January and May and was solicited to engage in sexual acts with women there each time, according to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint.

The affidavit says investigators also searched trash at two of the businesses and found more than 1,000 empty condom wrappers and evidence of airline flights to Kansas City from Los Angeles, Phoenix, New York City and Las Vegas.

The defendants also were found to have wired a total of $83,300 to China, according to the affidavit.

Among the numerous complaints about the businesses that authorities say they fielded was a September 2006 letter postmarked in Long Beach, Calif. The letter, sent to Overland Park police, was written in Chinese, but its title was in English and read "Prostitution."

Investigators say the letter stated that the "boss and his woman" at China Rose Massage in Overland Park were coercing and exploiting Chinese women and sending their profits to China.

Another time, an anonymous tipster told police China Rose had smuggled women from Fuzhou, China, to the U.S., putting them to work for 20 days at a time, then sending them elsewhere.

Don Ledford, a spokesman for Wood, said authorities would not comment on whether the women were forced to come to the area and take part in prostitution.