License Suspended For Massage Parlor Owner Charged With Felonies

The Washington state Department of Health is announcing the indefinite suspension of the massage therapist license for the owner of  Wenatchee massage parlors. 

The department says Linhui Yan failed to respond to its inquiry over felony charges against him for leading organized crime, money laundering, and promoting prostitution. 

Chelan County prosecutors filed the charges last February against Yan and his wife, Yan Yang, after a yearlong investigation by the Columbia River Drug Task Force into Lin Massage in the 400 block of North Mission Street and Angel Spa in the 300 block of North Chelan Street. 

A massage parlor owned by Yan and Yang in Kennewick was also part of the investigation. 

Yan and Yang disappeared after the charges were announced and have not been found since. 

Yan and Yang were living in Tacoma and Yan's license is in Pierce County. 

The two filed a lawsuit against Chelan County in May claiming the Drug Task Force improperly seized a passport, cell phones and checks in addition to at least $134,190 from their numerous bank accounts. 

There’s been no movement in the lawsuit since the county filed paperwork denying the accusations in July. 

Detectives said the two parlors in Wenatchee were fronts for prostitution and human trafficking.  

According to court documents, Detectives were given a tip about suspected prostitution at the parlors with at least four different women serving as prostitutes. The filing said sexual favors for money were offered to undercover officers. 

The court documents also say an advertisement with suggestive images and offering sexual services appeared in online searches for the business. 

Law enforcement’s search for Yan and Yang grew cold late last March when the investigation by a joint task force failed to locate the couple. 

The joint operation involved the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Wenatchee Police Department, East Wenatchee Police Department, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, Kennewick Police Department, South Sound Gang Task Force, Department of Corrections, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security. 

The Wenatchee massage parlors involved in the case were turned over to the original property owners.