Two Cape Coral massage parlor managers were arrested Tuesday after failing to maintain proper customer and employee records, violating state law.
Yujiao Zhan, 61, and Ping Hu, 49, are facing multiple counts of obstructing justice after Cape Coral Police Department officers identified their businesses as suspected illicit massage parlors.
The investigation was launched after CCPD said they received tips from websites and customer reviews.
Officers arrived at Coral Red Massage on Del Prado Boulevard around 9:20 a.m. and identified Zhan as the manager.
When asked to provide business records, she failed to produce a complete customer logbook containing full names, addresses and phone numbers. Additionally, the employee records she provided were deemed illegible and lacked crucial details, such as start dates, birthdates and job titles.
Zhan, described as the "senior lady" in charge while the business owner was away in Malaysia, was arrested and taken to the Lee County Jail. She is facing two counts of failing to maintain a customer log.
Around 10:55 a.m., officers conducted a similar inspection at New Moon Massage, also on Del Prado Boulevard.
Police identified Hu as the manager and found that her record-keeping practices mirrored those at Coral Red Massage. The customer logbook was incomplete, and the employee records were illegible.
During questioning, Hu admitted that she occasionally slept at the business due to laziness, lack of transportation or simply not wanting to go home.
This led to an additional charge of operating a massage parlor as a shelter. Hu now faces two counts of failing to maintain proper records and one count related to using the business as a residence.
Both parlors were reportedly found to have multiple administrative violations during inspections conducted by the Florida Department of Health.
These arrests follow the recent implementation of Florida HB-197 , which went into effect on July 1, 2024.
The law requires massage parlor operators to maintain detailed customer and employee records and provide them to law enforcement upon request.
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