Mugshots
Hua Zhang and Lei Wang were accused of running the Orchids of Asia Day Spa where a law enforcement prostitution sting allegedly netted New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft as a client.
You can see the detailed affidavit against the women later in this article, but be aware that some of the accusations are graphic. “We categorically deny that Mr. Kraft engaged in any illegal activity. Because it is a judicial matter, we will not be commenting further,” a spokesperson for Kraft said. However, authorities alleged otherwise in a press conference.
Orchids of Asia Day Spa
Hua Zhang is from Winter Garden, Florida. She is 58-years-old and the owner of the spa, authorities allege. Court records say a Mandarin interpreter was needed, and she entered a not guilty plea. Lei Wang, 39 of Hobe Sound, was also arrested. She described herself as the manager, documents report. Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Martin County was the business targeted in the accusations against Kraft. Wang was listed as indigent and also needed a Mandarin interpreter in court records.
Jupiter police held a news conference to reveal that, on February 19, 2019, “we entered the business in our community, the Orchid Spa” and arrested the two individuals. They were named as Zhang and Wang. WPBF-TV described Hua Zhang as “just one of the (alleged) madams leading a South Florida prostitution ring.” According to the television station, her attorney “argued there is no proof his client knew there was prostitution activity going on in the rooms of the massage parlor.”
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Zhang, as well as other women, lived at the business and was the registered agent for a location searched. Women at the locations “were engaging in sexual acts, averaging eight clients a day 1,500 men a year, with no days off…The women slept on parlor tables, cooked in the back of the establishment and had no access to transportation,” the newspaper reported.
Court records show multiple solicitation of prostitution charges being filed against Zhang in Palm Beach County courts. Here are just some of them:
Accusations against Hua Zhang.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Affidavit Filed by Authorities Against Hua Zhang and Lei Wang Describes in Detail How Men Allegedly Went Into the Establishment for Sex Acts
The affidavit in the case of Hua Zhang states that authorities initiated a “prostitution investigation” in late October 2018 based on information they received from detectives within the Martin County Sheriff’s Office. Detectives from Marin County “advised they were working several cases of prostitution and possible human trafficking at Asian massage parlors in their county.” During that investigation, they learned that there was a similar business in the Town of Jupiter called Orchids of Asia Day Spa, which was located in the Jupiter Square Plaza, the court documents allege.
The affidavit against Wang contains the same accusations.
Detectives began researching the business and found that it was registered as Orchids of Asia Day Spa Inc. with the State of Florida Division of Corporations Records. It was filed as a business and became active on February 15, 2012. The registered agent was listed as Hua Zhang, who had an address the same as the business on that form. She was listed as living in Winter Garden Florida and had a date of birth of December 13, 1960, states the affidavit.
The detectives searched the spa on Google and found that several reviews of it indicated it was a “rub and tug,” which is a “slang term which identifies a business as providing sexual services, specifically manually manipulating the male genitals until the point of climax,” court documents say.
The court documents also allege:
Detectives looked at a website called Rubmaps.com, which allegedly allows customers, “seemingly all male, to discuss their individual experiences at illicit massage parlors.”
Several postings under the name of Orchids of Asia Day Spa from February 2015 to March 2018 included reviews and “detailed visits involving Asian females providing sexual acts, as well as massage/body rubs in exchange for payment. The majority of the posts advised the female employee would provide the male client with a ‘hand job,’; ‘a hand job’ is a slang term for a sexual act involving the manual manipulation of the male genitals,” the documents allege.
On Nov. 6, 2018, police began a surveillance operation of the business. The exterior contained a neon sign that read “massages” and “open” and “facials.” It also promised such things as massage therapy, table shower, body treatments, and facial treatments. The business was open seven days a week from 9:39 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. The detective was at the business for over 7 hours and only observed male clients enter and exit the business.
The police then conducted “covert video surveillance from the outside of the business” from November 6 through November 14, 2018 for 24 hours a day. Each day the business opened at 9 a.m. and closed around 10:30 p.m. or 11:30 p.m. Each client who entered was male and stayed about 30-45 minutes. There were surveillance logs made, the documents allege.
For example, on November 6, a Tuesday, 7 men visited and stayed between 30-60 minutes each. On November 7, 16 men visited, staying 30-60 minutes. On November 8, 18 men visited, including a man in a golf cart with a party of eight men. All stayed between 30-60 minutes. And so on.
Police contacted the Florida Department of Health and asked for a routine inspection. The inspector conducted the inspection on November 14, 2018 and took photographs of the employees’ Florida driver’s licenses and massage therapy licenses. Three females were present: Lei Wang, Hua Cao, and Shen Mingbi, according to the affidavit.
According to the inspector, it appeared that the female employees were living there “as there were two rooms with beds, including sheets and pillows. Next to the beds, she located dressers which housed several personal items including medicines and clothing for the females.” There was also a refrigerator with food.
A detective saw a female throw away a small plastic bag into the trash at the conclusion of the inspection. This woman, Wang, self identified herself as the manager of the Orchids of Asia Day Spa, says the affidavit.
Authorities then “conducted a trash pull on the business.” They found in the trash several pieces of white paper that were ripped and created a spreadsheet that included things like name, service, add time, cash, card, etc. Under the names column was the name Lulu, who was listed on rubmaps.com as one of the provider’s names for the illicit massage, according to the court documents. Also located were plastic napkins covered with seminal fluid, says the document.
Authorities say they also found more napkins with seminal fluid and credit card receipts. For example, one piece of paper said “11:00 Lulu, 1 hr, Dan” and a credit card number.
The surveillance log then details specifics of incidents but it doesn’t name the men. Police later released a list though:
List of those charges with solicitation of prostitution by @TownofJupiter. Robert Kraft on the list. @TCPalm
For example, Subject A was stopped after exiting the business in a traffic stop. He was asked about his activity and said a friend referred him and he had been there before. He said that he was greeted by an Asian female named Ava, asked for a half hour massage and was escorted into a massage room where he disrobed and laid face down.
After he was done with the massage, the woman known as Ava “manually stimulated his penis to climax. No condom was used,” alleges the documents. He was cleaned with a hot towel and provided with napkins. He was shown a photo of Lei Wang and identified her as Lulu, the court documents say. He was shown a picture of Hua Cao and stated she was Ava, they allege.
Subject B was also stopped, this time for speeding. He gave a similar story, stating he paid $59 for the massage and was escorted to the massage room. He was stimulated to climax, says the document.
One of the men arrived in a white Mercedes Benz. Another arrived in a black Honda. One man said he paid Lei Wang at the front of the business.
At this point, authorities obtained camera surveillance authorization and captured sexual acts on camera. The acts were described without naming the men. For example, Male 1 was wearing a white shirt, dark shorts, glasses and flip flops. He paid Lei Wang, and then laid down on the table. This was on January 18, 2019, alleges the affidavit. Male 2 arrived on the same day. A similar thing happened. She calmed him down by hugging him. In the case of male 2, he also manipulated her genitals and she kissed him. In another case, a male paid Hua Zhang for a similar activity with a second female, alleges the document.
In another instance, a man was allegedly serviced by Shen Mingbi. He was wearing a dark jacket and khaki pants and gave Lei Wang a $100 bill, the document alleges, adding that this man performed oral sex on the woman and allowed him to stimulate her breasts. He laid a $100 and $50 bill on the massage table when it was done. Other incidents were described with different men.
Authorities received a search warrant for the installation of a tracking device on Zhang’s vehicle on Jan 19. She remained at the business most of the day on one day. At one point she went to Sequuoia Apple Day Spa in Hobe Sound in Martin County which was “identified by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office as another illicit massage parlor.” Lei Wang is the registered agent and Zhang was listed as the VP of the business on the articles of incorporate until September 2018, says the affidavit.
Criminal charges were developed for 26 male customers who paid money to Hua Zhang, the president of the corporation and Lei Wang, the self-admitted manager, according to the documents. A wage and hour report was collected from the State of Florida for both Zhang and Wang. Zhang reported earnings for the quarter ending December 2018 of $6,500. Wang reported $4,500.
They were described as “not only willing participants in committing crimes of prostitution inside the spa but,” alleged the affidavit, they “employed others for that purpose.”
Jupiter Police Alleged That Robert Kraft Was One of the Men Videotaped
In a news conference, Jupiter police revealed that Robert Kraft was allegedly one of the men.
“At that time, we also served two search warrants on businesses. Five search warrants on residences. Those occurred in Jupiter, Martin County, and three in Orange County,” said Jupiter Police Chief Daniel Kerr.
“Obviously our concern in this investigation centers around the possibility of victims – of human trafficking – the appearance maybe of that. We’re working with advocacy groups and interpreters and getting as much support for them as we possibly can,” he said.
Police are also working with the state attorney’s office. “We have 25 individuals additional that will be charged and those filing packets have been forwarded on to the state attorney’s office. My staff will be passing out a list of those individuals as we are speaking here,” the chief said. “These individuals will be charged with soliciting another to commit prostitution. We also had some concerns and some appearances of obvious money laundering in this case that we will be investigating further. Much of our evidence comes directly from the businesses and also from body worn cameras of our officers and also from surveillance that we had been conducting over the last several months.”
As to the name of Robert Kraft appearing on the list, police confirmed it was the same Kraft who owns the New England Patriots.
“He’s being charged with the same offenses as the others which is soliciting another to commit prostitution. Right now we have two. Two different visits,” alleged police.
There is video evidence of the alleged acts for all the individuals being charged, police said.
The lead detective Andrew Sharp said in the news conference that “there is a certain fee that is paid when you enter the establishment.” He didn’t reveal the exact dollar amount. “There is a specific dollar amount for a time frame that you pay,” he said. For a half hour, the fee was $59 and $79 for an hour, he said of the average fee.
“All the lists of names are all the individuals we currently have charges on,” he said.
“The video we obtained, it shows the act that took place,” said the detective. He said that, for every man on the list, there are allegedly acts “recorded on that video.”
As for Kraft, said the detective, he was allegedly driven to the establishment. The video evidence came from hidden cameras that were set up in the spa, said the detective. “Does the video contain Mr. Kraft inside receiving the alleged acts? The answer to that is yes,” said the detective.
“These are misdemeanor crimes,” added the detective.