Yin Mei Tran Lau, Sex Trafficking, Structuring, Alaska 2009

Massage Parlor Owner Indicted for Sex Trafficking and Structuring

Anchorage, Alaska – Yin Mei Tran Lau, the owner of Yin’s Massage Therapy, has been indicted for structuring financial transactions in violation of federal law. The State of Alaska has also charged her with Sex Trafficking in the Third Degree for her role in managing an alleged prostitution enterprise.

According to court documents, Yin Mei Tran Lau operated Yin’s Massage Therapy as a front for prostitution as early as 2009. The federal indictment charges that in January 2009, she attempted to structure bank transactions by knowingly layering cash deposits and withdrawals under the $10,000 reporting threshold.

The State of Alaska alleges that from 2011 to 2014, Yin Mei Tran Lau operated Yin’s Massage Therapy as a front for prostitution. An unsealed affidavit by detectives indicates that the clientele was almost entirely men, and the women working at Yin’s Massage Therapy would offer to perform sexual acts for a fee.

Yin Mei Tran Lau allegedly transported multiple women in and out of Alaska for purposes of prostitution. She faces up to five years of imprisonment if convicted of sex trafficking in the third degree and five years imprisonment as well as fines if convicted of structuring.

Yin Mei Tran Lau is scheduled for arraignment on her State Court charges on December 16, 2014, at 10:00 a.m. The case was jointly prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Bradley and Adam Alexander of the State of Alaska Department of Law’s Office of Special Prosecutions.

The case was investigated by the Innocence Lost Task Force, consisting of participation from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Anchorage Police Department.

Mandatory Facts:

Defendant: Yin Mei Tran Lau

Criminal Charges: Structuring financial transactions in violation of federal law, Sex Trafficking in the Third Degree

City and State: Anchorage, Alaska

Exact Date: January 2009 (crime date), December 16, 2014 (arraignment date)

Sentence or Outcome: Up to five years imprisonment if convicted of sex trafficking in the third degree, up to five years imprisonment as well as fines if convicted of structuring

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ak/pr/massage-parlor-owner-indicted-structuring-and-sex-trafficking