Warrant links owners of raided Springfield massage spa to Joplin business - Joplin Globe

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The owners of one of more than a dozen Springfield massage businesses raided by law enforcement on July 20 have links to a similar business in Joplin, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol search warrant.

Sgt. Daniel Nash says in the warrant that an investigation that began in September 2014 has discovered the owners of Palm Spa in Springfield — Linan Tian, WenJuan Li and BingBing Li — are connected to a business called Health Massage Therapy, located at 3131 S. Wisconsin Ave. in Joplin, by "surveillance, a vehicle tracking device, utility records and business records." The warrant also says Tian and BingBing Li helped operate the Joplin business.

The warrant was issued before law enforcement raided the Springfield massage businesses last month and indicates the investigation has included the Springfield and Joplin police departments, the Arkansas State Police, the Louisiana State Police, the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Homeland Security.

According to the warrant, Tian, BingBing Li and WenJuan Li are also involved in similar massage businesses in Iowa and Nebraska, which are also part of an ongoing investigation by local police and the FBI. Misdemeanor charges have been filed against nine individuals associated with the businesses raided in Springfield, but none of the three owners allegedly connected to Joplin are among them.

Reached by phone Wednesday, Highway Patrol public information officer Sgt. John Lueckenhoff declined to provide details on the alleged connections between the Springfield owners and Joplin business, or any other specifics on the investigation.

"That’s an open, ongoing criminal investigation that I, basically, know the search warrants were served on multiple locations," he said. "But the extent of their investigation, what type of surveillance they’ve done, I have no idea."

The search warrant submitted by Nash, and another by Springfield police Officer Justin Gargus, describe conversations with male patrons of the massage businesses after being seen leaving the businesses and stopped by law enforcement. Both warrants say individuals confessed to having paid for sexual activity at the Springfield businesses.

Nash's report also describes officers stopping Tian, BingBing Li and WenJuan Li and observing them transporting women from where the three lived to various massage businesses in Springfield. Nash alleges in the warrant that the owners told officers the women were visiting Springfield temporarily and misled them about where they were taking them. After telling officers they were going to a grocery store, they were observed taking the women to the massage businesses, according to the warrant.

The patrol report tells of interviews with two unidentified women after having left Relax Massage in Springfield, one who was "walking down the street crying and pulling her suitcase." Both told officers they came to Springfield to take jobs as massage therapists but were required to live in the business, where the owners' son often stayed overnight to ensure the women would not leave.

"When I asked the victim if she was forced to perform sex acts during massages, she would not answer," Nash's warrant says of both interviews.


The Globe on Wednesday submitted an open records request for any other patrol search warrants or probable-cause affidavits relating to Health Massage Therapy.

The warrant says the reported links between the businesses were discovered in 2014 and 2015, and that WenJuan Li has been convicted on charges of prostitution in Nevada and Illinois.

Health Massage Therapy is one of six Joplin massage businesses that have advertised on Backpage.com, a classified advertising website that has come under scrutiny of law enforcement officials and lawmakers across the country for allegedly facilitating prostitution and sex trafficking. The business is not one of the three in Joplin that were served search warrants and closed in January of this year, however.

Nash says in his warrant that the three owners of Palm Spa in Springfield are also linked to four other massage businesses in Springfield in the same way they are linked to the Joplin business. None of the three are listed as owners or registered agents in records on file with the Missouri secretary of state or the cities of Joplin or Springfield.

Background

Capt. Trevor Duncan of the Joplin Police Department said Wednesday that the department has had no involvement with Health Massage Therapy. On Jan. 25, Joplin officers assisted the FBI in serving search warrants at Golden Massage, 1237 S. Range Line Road; Sunny Spa, 801 E. 15th St.; and Royal Massage, 1522 S. Main St. All three have been closed since then. Health Massage appeared to have closed since the others were served with warrants.


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