Thread: Police accuse spa owner of housing illegal aliens

May 31, 2007

http://independent.gmnews.com/news/2007 ... e/053.html

Police accuse spa owner of housing illegal aliens
Route 36 building cited for number of structural problems
BY DAN NEWMAN
Staff Writer

This photo from inside of the Hazlet Spa, taken by township inspectors, shows what they said was a hazardous sewage leak that covered the floor.
HAZLET - Township officials and police busted a massage parlor last week where three women were working and illegally living.

The trio, who police say were illegal immigrants, was found inside the Hazlet Spa massage parlor, located at 1222 Route 36 last Tuesday morning during an inspection that was spurred on by complaints from a local business owner about a year ago.

"When we first got the complaint it seemed that they stopped doing whatever is that they were doing," township Construction Official Dennis Pino said. "We decided to go back, though, and we ended seeing what was really going on in there."

What Pino, and others who accompanied him to the establishment, saw, "looked like a dormitory," complete with a refrigerator/freezer, microwave oven, and a coffee maker, among the many items. Pino said that when the complaints were filed on this matter, illegal activities were alleged to be taking place.

The owner of the facility, Hyo Chul Cha, 58, of Bayside, N.Y., was charged with uttering forged documents purporting to be state massage therapy licenses and falsifying public records by making false statements on a township massage parlor license application.

Yoo Yang Choi, 42, who answered the door to the parlor but did not speak English, allegedly provided a fake Virginia learner's permit as identification. Another employee, Yun Hua Biak, age unknown, was found hiding in a kitchen closet and had no identification. She reportedly told authorities she started work during the previous week. The third female was identified as MeiLan Li, 40. She had a Chinese passport but was found to have entered the country illegally.

The women told authorities that they consistently put in 13 hour days, six to seven days per week, and stated that they were paid anywhere between $10-$15 per customer for a one-hour massage. Nearly $5,000 was seized by local police from the building. Choi reported that was the amount of receipts from May 15-21 and that Cha was expected to pick it up.

Cha was also to be charged with numerous zoning violations including allowing employees to live in the business, allowing walk-in clients, working beyond approved hours, installing a full kitchen and changing the interior layout from previously approved plans.

Pino also said there were severe structural problems as well.

"The person that filed the complaint knew about the structural problems and they were absolutely right," Pino said. "There were major problems with sewage, water in the basement and electrical issues also. And there was nearly an inch of stagnant water and sewage in the basement of the building, along with termite activity. I didn't know that we'd see the kind of problems that we ended up seeing."

Pino also said that once he and the other officials were inside the building, things were uneventful and that they were there for about two-and-a-half hours.

The three women were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Cha was sent to the Monmouth County jail in Freehold on $25,000 bail.

Spa = Brothel