Cupertino Day Spa Raided, Accused of Being Brothel

A San Jose couple and the woman who managed their business have been charged with pimping and other felonies following a raid on Hummingbird Day Spa in Cupertino.

Four-year-old Hummingbird Day Spa on South De Anza Boulevard in Cupertino began being investigated in March, as prosecutors revealed this week. Bay Area News Group reports that its owners, married couple Lin Wang, 46, and Xian Wang, 48, of San Jose, were both arrested on September 10 along with spa manager Rui Wang, 42, of Sunnyvale. All three have been charged with pimping, pandering, money laundering, and other felonies for running what the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office says was a "busy brothel" that saw around 30 male clients each day.

"There is no room in our neighborhoods for working brothels,” said District Attorney Jeff Rosen in a statement. "There is no room in Santa Clara County for the criminal exploitation of human beings."

As KRON4 reports, the Wings were arraigned on Thursday in San Jose, and it sounds like charges of human trafficking may still be pending.

The investigation that began in March as led by the Human Trafficking Task Force within the DA's office. Members of the community had reported seeing what they believed to be "illegal sexual activity" happening at the day spa, and they observed a "high volume of men entering the establishment over a short period of time each day."

The Yelp page for Hummingbird Day Spa is still live, and includes a review in which a customer said, "Beware, the person that was giving me a massage told me to go to the place around the corner for an actual massage." He also noted that she had extremely long nails and kept "stabbing" him while attempting the massage.

Prosecutors say the spa was bringing in $700,000 annually, and that the Wangs were underreporting annual payroll by about $100,000. Profits from the spa were being laundered, prosecutors say, by way of mortgage payments on properties in San Jose and Chino Hills.

"A forensic financial analysis indicated that all three defendants engaged in collecting, concealing, and integrating illicit funds to maintain the business, fund personal finances and mortgages, and have been involved in long term pimping and pandering operations, money laundering, tax irregularities, and payroll fraud," the DA's office says.

According to prosecutors, two women who were working at the spa/brothel on the day of the raid were believed to have been trafficked and were coerced into working there. Police connected them to Community Solutions, a regional nonprofit that officers support to sex trafficking victims.

In Santa Clara County, suspected human trafficking can be reported to the county task force at 408-792-7200 or by email at [email protected]. People affected by human trafficking can call Community Solutions’ 24-hour confidential hotline at 877-363-7238.