Anchorage massage parlor owner Yin Mei Tran Lau has been indicted on charges she used her Spenard Road business as a front for sex trafficking, the U.S. Attorney's office in Alaska announced Wednesday.
The arrest came after five years of stings and ongoing surveillance, according to statements from an affidavit filed in state court.
A release from the U.S. Attorney's office said clients at Lau's parlor, Yin's Massage Therapy, were "almost entirely men" and the women working for Lau would offer to perform "sexual acts for a fee."
The affidavit, filed Oct. 1, says, in FBI video surveillance footage recorded in 2012 and 2013, more than 150 men entered the business. Some of them stayed only for a moment, while others stayed for more than an hour.
Numerous undercover agents also received massages from women working at the parlor. After the typical aspects of a massage were completed, the agents would request "extras" -- sexual acts -- in exchange for money and would leave after the women took the cash, offering a premeditated excuse for their abrupt departure, the complaint says.
A sting in 2009 resulted in an arrest and charges against one worker at the parlor, but those charges were dropped, according to the affidavit.
Surveillance also showed Lau dealing with large sums of cash, according to the complaint, and Lau is believed to have trafficked women in and out of the state for prostitution purposes, prosecutors said.
Lau has been a massage parlor owner in Anchorage for the last decade. The affidavit states her first business license was issued in May 2004 for Yin Mei Massage, which was operated off East Ninth Avenue. Yin's Massage Therapy opened in 2008.
In addition to the third-degree sex trafficking charge, Lau has been indicted for "structuring financial transactions in violation with federal law."
"Structuring occurs when an individual knowingly layers cash deposits or withdrawals under the $10,000 reporting threshold so as to evade reporting requirements mandated by the Bank Secrecy Act," the release said.
Lau allegedly used part of the money to buy property in Anchorage.
If convicted, Lau could face five years in prison. She is expected back in court Tuesday.