By Chelsea Phua
cphua@sacbee.com
Federal and local authorities on Thursday arrested two people for allegedly operating a string of massage parlors in Washington and California that included two in Lodi and one in Sacramento County that were fronts for prostitution.
According to a news release from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement department, Tham Nguyen, 48, and Suong Tran, 51, both of Burien, Wash., face charges of conspiracy to transport individuals in furtherance of prostitution and conspiracy to engage in money laundering. They were indicted on Wednesday.
Investigators say they learned that since 2007, Nguyen and Tran recruited women from out-of-state to work as prostitutes and arranged for them to be moved among their businesses, which included three massage parlors in Washington and three in California. They also owned and operated a legal brothel in Nevada.
Authorities said financial records show that Nguyen and Tran also conspired to hide the source and substantial proceeds of the illegal activities.
The names and location of the businesses in California are:
Healthy Living Nails and Spa, 3715 47th Ave., Sacramento.
AAH Spa, 20 N. Cherokee Lane, Lodi.
Valley Spa, 321 N. California St., Lodi
The case is being prosecuted in the Western District of Washington.
Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.


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