Local

Roswell spa owner accused of running human sex trafficking ring released from jail

ROSWELL, Ga. — A business owner accused of running a human trafficking ring out of her massage parlor in Roswell was released from jail Friday.

Jail records show Hui Wang, 33, of Johns Creek, was arrested on January 10 on charges of trafficking a person for labor servitude and unlawful advertisement or practice of massage therapy. Bond was set at $100K for each charge.

Channel 2′s Michael Seiden was in Roswell, where Wang is the owner of Iris Massage, off Holcomb Bridge Road.

Investigators allege that she used a Chinese website to recruit her alleged victims, authorities said.

In interviews with police, the two victims told them that they were forced to work seven days per week, 12 hours a day with no days off. They told police that Wang told them to offer illegal sexual acts to customers. They were also forced to drink weight loss teas and teak supplements to keep them thin.

When investigators searched the business, officers reported that the women were living in the spa.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Last week, Roswell police closed seven massage parlors that were operating illegally.

TRENDING STORIES:

The city is currently enforcing a 90-day moratorium on accepting business license applications for new massage parlors and spas.

City leaders have also changed the ordinances to prevent bad actors from taking advantage of the loopholes, which allowed massage parlors and spas that were closed due to activities that included human trafficking to reopen within 48 hours under new ownership.

Seiden talked to some North Fulton business owners who called what Wang is accused of doing disgusting and disturbing.

“It’s disgusting,” Cody Hatchcock, who works next door to the now-closed business, said. “It’s honestly horrendous.”

He told us he had no idea what was going on until he heard about the arrest.

“Thankfully, it finally got rooted out,” Hatchcock said. “Hopefully, we can get a more upbeat community-forward kind of business in there.”

0