DANVERS — The Route 1 massage business where police arrested two women on prostitution charges Friday has been the focus of police and state investigators off and on for four years, court documents reveal.
But it was a tip from a concerned customer that helped break the case.
He was concerned, he told police, because he had gone in for a regular massage and was given the hard sell for a "happy ending," which he refused.
Qinfei Chan, 48, of Malden, and Xiaoping Wan, 48, of Charlestown, are facing charges of sexual conduct for a fee and deriving support from prostitution after an undercover police officer went to the Newbury Bodywork spa, which has also been known as the Asian Wellness spa.
The officer, who had been to the business once before, had arranged an appointment for 4:30.
During the massage, the undercover officer "did the customary flip," which, Detective Timothy Williamson explained in his report, is usually a signal in illicit massage parlors that the customer wants something "extra."
He then made a gesture that is typically understood to mean a specific sexual act, which the woman then agreed to do.
When the undercover officer, who was wearing a wire, uttered the words, "done deal," a group of Danvers and Beverly police who had been listening in went inside the business, which is located in a plaza just north of the Interstate 95 Ferncroft rotary.
Neither of the women inside appeared flustered; instead both calmly dialed their cellphones, police said.
The business had come under scrutiny for the first time in February 2007, when it was known as Asian Wellness on Locust Street, police said in their report.
Officers noticed a pattern of repeat customers and confronted one of them, a 36-year-old man, who told them he had been visiting the place weekly for about three months. That customer said he would pay $75 to the person in the "office," and then tip another $50 for a woman to perform a specific type of sexual act.
The business is owned by a woman named Shuhua Dong, 47.
Dong has no license from the state to offer massage services.
Dong also owned a business in Peabody called the Bourbon Spa.
State licensing officials cited Dong in 2009 for advertising massages at that business, and then again the following year for the massages being advertised at the Asian Wellness spa.
Dong insisted she was only offering "reflexology" at the Peabody business, but police noted that her sign listed massages as being available.
Investigators also discovered listings for the Asian Wellness/Newbury Bodywork spa on several websites offering erotic services. Some of those listings included reviews by past customers who described how they were able to request additional services from the employees.
The anonymous tipster who contacted Danvers police in September said that a masseuse named "Amy" gave him a "poor" massage, then asked him "what else" he wanted, Williamson wrote. When he said he just wanted a massage, "Amy" got upset and said she needed to make money, then offered a range of sex acts from $40 for touching to $100 for intercourse, police said.
The Danvers Board of Health also received a letter from a man who complained about being pressured by the same worker.
When police paid a visit to the spa, one middle-aged man appeared "nervous" and left in a hurry. "I had no idea why this customer would be so uncomfortable in the presence of the police," Williamson wrote.
A second, elderly man was seen by officers going into a massage room without his pants, Williamson wrote.
Police later discovered items that led them to believe the women were spending large amounts of time in the business, perhaps living there — they found food and cooking utensils, as well as toiletries, behind a curtain.
They also found $2,000 in cash stashed in various places around the business — which had no cash register or credit card machine.
Wan and Chan remain free on personal recognizance. Their arraignment, originally scheduled for this week, was postponed until Jan. 10, because they are requesting the services of a Mandarin Chinese interpreter, who is not available until that date.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis may be reached at 978-338-2521 or at jmanganis@salemnews.com.
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