As much criticism as Vincenzo V. Anello has earned on these pages during four long, long years as mayor of Niagara Falls, you can't say that his administration did not foment any new downtown development.
When Anello talked excitedly about creating a vibrant entertainment district on Third Street, though, a government-sanctioned brothel was probably not what most people had in mind.
But federal prosecutors charge that's precisely what they got at 446 Third St., the site of Lotus Spa, a common whorehouse masquerading as a legitimate therapeutic business, and one that enjoyed passionate support from Anello, the city's economic development czar Ralph Aversa and other state, county and local officials. Furthermore, court documents suggest that several unnamed members of local law enforcement, along with a number of public officials, partook of the prostitution and sex slavery that took place there on a daily basis.
Last week, Lotus Spa and three similar businesses in Lockport, Wheatfield and Tonawanda were raided by federal agents. Two married couples were charged with operating the four brothels -- as they're called in court papers -- and trafficking in young women, most of them illegal immigrants, by bringing them to the area against their wills and forcing them into prostitution.
Che Ngan Tsui and his wife, Len Wah Chong (also known as Allen and Lisa Tsui), along with her brother, Kim Poh Chong, and his wife, Wei Zhang, are due back in federal court in Buffalo on Dec. 19. The Tsuis and Chong are naturalized citizens of the United States, according to the criminal complaint filed against them, while Zhang has permanent-resident status.
Despite opposition from block clubs and local business owners, the Tsuis gained Zoning Board approval in late 2005 and early 2006, thanks to Anello's ardent support. City officials and the entire editorial department of the Niagara Gazette were willing to swallow the farfetched notion that customers would pay to be massaged by scantily clad young women lacking any formal training or certification license, but that no funny stuff would take place.
"Allen Tsui has followed every procedure that he was directed to do so by this city," Aversa, director of the Niagara Falls City Development Corp., told the Gazette at the time. "In addition, he's brought over $1.36 million of private development to Third Street and created an additional tax base."
The city's daily paper went to great lengths to explain that the "relaxation spa," located a stone's throw from their newsroom, would be offering nothing more controversial than "acupressure and aromatherapy," whatever those are.
The Zoning Board eventually approved the "spa," in part thanks to state Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, who wrote a letter suggesting that Chong would be "a welcome addition to your business community," and Niagara County Coroner James Joyce, who spoke on the couple's behalf at a Zoning Board meeting.
Aversa's NFC chipped in to the tune of $10,000, a "facade grant" for Lotus Spa, just to help them get started here.
At the time, the couple was represented at a South End Business Association meeting by Mike Gawel, the former City Councilman and convicted felon who helped arrange $40,000 in payments from businessman Joe Anderson to Anello in 2003.
Those transactions, which were kept from public view until they were revealed in a Niagara Falls Reporter story in May 2005, triggered a federal investigation into corruption in Anello's administration that continues as he prepares to clean out his office at City Hall.
While the Tsuis talked about opening a karaoke bar on the other side of Third Street and making other investments in the downtown area, only the Lotus Spa became a reality. It opened in June 2006 with a gala ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Anello and members of his administration.
The 77-page criminal complaint outlines the sordid menu offered to customers, known in the prostitution business as "johns." Oral sex -- referred to as a "half set" -- could be had for as little as $20 or $30 paid to the young women in addition to a nominal house fee paid up front. Intercourse, or a "full set," ran twice as much or more, according to the document.
Federal investigators wiretapped phone calls made by the defendants to each other and the four spas, as well as a purported fortune-telling business adjacent in Wheatfield, which the complaint suggests was used to house prostitutes, and the North Tonawanda home where the defendants lived.
The recorded conversations, conducted in Mandarin Chinese and translated by federal investigators, form the basis of the federal case. The calls leave little question as to the true nature of the business conducted at the four locations, including this description of a call made by Chong to the Wheatfield site:
"Chong spoke to an unidentified prostitute she called Mei Mei. Chong instructed Mei Mei how to take off and put on the customers' clothes, including socks. Chong told Mei Mei that her customers are not really here for massages. Mei Mei mentioned a customer to Chong who was a good one because he gave her a sixty dollar tip for 'mouth' (oral sex)."
Customers known as "the judge" and "the police captain" were afforded special treatment, including complimentary services, according to the translations.
"Chong told an unknown Asian female (UAF) the 'police captain' is on his way to Premises 1 (the Wheatfield location)," the complaint reads. "She instructed the UAF to give him a 45-minute service ... it should be noted the 'police captain' was coming from Premises 5," a reference to the home in North Tonawanda.
"Chong told an Asian female whom Chong referred to as 'Jenny' the 'Judge' was on his way to Premises 1," reads the description of a Sept. 6 call. "Chong told 'Jenny' to only charge him for one hour even though he wanted a one and a half hour service."
The description of a Sept. 5 phone call to the Lockport location suggests "the judge" also offered suggestions on the operation of the brothels.
"Chong spoke to a prostitute named Amy and told her that customers who are friends of the Judge called to complain about Mary. Chong told Amy she was at Golden and that Judge told her Lockport is a high class spot and that girls should not solicit for tips and if they do, he (the Judge) will not help her. Amy told Chong she was aware of this. Chong added that the Judge informed her Mary offended every customer. Chong said she told the Judge she fired Mary and that the Judge agreed with Chong's actions and that if she had not fired Mary, she would have made trouble."
What constitutes firing in the context of sex slavery and illegal immigration is not explained in the complaint.
References to "the sheriff" involve him making recommendations on how to avoid problems with law enforcement. During one call, Chong said that he warned against allowing the prostitutes to openly solicit tips, since undercover police officers would not offer additional money. In another, she said that he advised against advertising in local newspapers, which he said would attract attention from investigators.
In another call, one prostitute talks about offering to provide a regular customer, described as an immigration officer, with free service in order to solicit his help in bringing her son into the United States.
Prosecutors have said they know the identities of the judge, police captain, sheriff and immigration officer, but have not revealed them publicly.
The complaint describes a grim existence for the young sex slaves, who were expected to work off their passage to the United States, which had been financed by the defendants.
The calls made public in the court documents describe the harsh realities of the trade in human flesh.
"An unknown Asian female advised Chong she did four customers, one of who was a kid that used a credit card and charged $30," reads a passage describing an Oct. 11 phone call to the Lockport location, also known as Lotus Spa.
"An unknown Asian female (UAF) told Chong a customer did not pay the tip so she would not let him go," reads the account of a call to the Wheatfield brothel. "Chong told the UAF that the same customer already 'hit' two girls at (the Lockport location) because he took drugs. Chong told the unknown male customer he was with the girls for two hours and he needed to take care of the girls. He stated that he would only pay an Asian female whom Chong referred to as 'Lala' because the new girl didn't measure up. Chong advised him never to come back to the brothel. Chong told the UAF this is the customer who did an Asian female whom she referred to as 'Jenny' for four hours and didn't pay her either."
Prostitutes who complained did not receive much sympathy, according to the translation of another call:
"Chong asked, 'What, you think you're here to have fun? Open you legs to make money?' Chong told the prostitute she wants her out because she thinks too highly of herself."
With this debauched depravity occurring around them, politicians like Anello and Town of Niagara Councilman Robert Clark happily accepted campaign contributions from the perpetrators, as did the Niagara County Democratic Committee.
Anello received $122 from Alan Tsui, who purchased a ticket to a fund-raiser supporting the mayor's doomed re-election bid. That's more than the prostitutes whose hellish plight Anello's administration made possible got for a "full set."
Given the documented payments he received from Anderson and Kathy Kajfasz, whose brother was involved with the failed Hyde Park Golf Course giveaway advocated by Anello, federal agents working his case are likely to have a few questions for the Tsuis and their in-laws. And if the four defendants have anything to share, the prospect of long prison sentences figure to make them particularly cooperative.
Last week, Aversa told the Buffalo News that the defendants declined the $10,000 NFC grant. The Niagara Falls Reporter has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for all city records pertaining to Lotus Spa to find out if that's true.
If not, the city of Niagara Falls subsidized prostitution and the trafficking of human beings.
If so, Anello's administration experienced the governmental equivalent of being rejected by a hooker.
Either way, the whole ugly mess provides a fitting conclusion to the most disgraceful mayoral tenure Niagara Falls has ever endured.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | Dec. 18 2007 |