An Anchorage massage parlor owner was indicted this week on state charges of Sex Trafficking and Federal charges of Structuring Financial Transactions by an Anchorage Grand Jury according to the U.S. Justice Department.

U.S. Attorney Kevin Feldis stated in a press release that the federal charges of Structuring Financial Transactions goes as far back as 2009, when in as little as a week, Yin Mei Tran Lau layered cash deposits and withdrawals in amounts under the $10,000 reporting rules in order to skirt the reporting requirements. Some of these unreported monetary transactions were used to purchase real property in Anchorage Feldis says.

The DoJ press release also stated, “The State of Alaska alleges that from 2011 to 2014, Yin Mei Tran Lau operated Yin’s Massage Therapy as a front for prostitution.” State investigators in that portion of the case found that the parlor’s clients were almost entirely men and that the women working at the parlor routinely offered the parlor’s clients sex for a fee. Further investigation found that Yin Mei had transported women over state lines for the purposes of prostitution.

Yin Mei Tran Lau faces a prison sentence of five years on each of the two charges.

  Anchorage, financial structuring, grand jury, indictment, massage parlor, prostitution