An Imlay City couple are in hot water following an investigation that revealed their massage parlors were merely fronts for a prostitution and human trafficking ring in Lapeer County.
Imlay City police had been keeping an eye on Anthony Joseph Juip, age 72, and his wife, Qing Feng Xu (Ching Feng Soo), age 58, for five months, though they suspect the operation has been running for at least seven months. Police Chief Brett Selby noted that the investigation started due to an “exterior ordinance violation” at their massage parlor at 542 North Cedar Street in Imlay City, but questions of the massage parlor’s legitimacy and its license led to the use of undercover agents.
Investigation also revealed that a home at 420 Lake Nepessing Road in Lapeer was also being used as a front for the operation. On August 3, officers served three separate search warrants at the massage parlor, the Lapeer home, and a home in Imlay City, where further evidence of forced sex trafficking and possible human trafficking was found.
Officers found four Chinese women on work visas to the country living in the Imlay City home, claiming to be employed by Juip and Xu. They are currently receiving victim assistance, with officials saying that “several other women from out of town have been rotated in and out of these businesses over the course of the past year.
Both Juip and Xu are charged with conducting a criminal enterprise, and two counts of keeping a house of prostitution. The criminal enterprise charge is a felony punishable by 20 years in prison, while keeping a prostitution house is a felony, punishable by 5 years for one count.
