Raids at massage parlors net seven indictments

Seven northeast CLEVELAND — Ohio residents have been indicted on charges that accuse them of promoting prostitution at area massage parlors that authorities raided as part of a two-year investigation.

Authorities executed 16 search warrants in seven counties throughout northern Ohio as part of the investigation, the State Highway Patrol’s Ohio Investigative Unit said in a news release.

A Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted six people in secret last week, court records say. Jia Yue Dong, 42; Cui Rong Chen, 44; Fei Wang, 41; and Yan Wang, 41, all of Brunswick; Chengqiang Yu, 48, of North Royalton; and Robert Swartz, 50, of Copley, are all charged with promoting prostitution. A Medina County grand jury indicted Yulian Fu, 50, of North Royalton, on the same charge.

“These parlors were illegally operating throughout multiple communities, including four here in Cuyahoga County,” said Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley. “I commend the multiple agencies involved who helped put an end to this criminal activity.”

Dong, Fei Wang, Swartz and Yu have all been arrested, while authorities have obtained warrants to arrest Chen and Yan Wang, court records say. All six are scheduled to be arraigned on either Aug. 6 or 7 in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

The Medina County court records for Fu’s case were not immediately available Wednesday afternoon.

The locations raided as part of the investigation include five in Medina County; four in Cuyahoga County; three in Lorain County; and one in each of Erie, Portage, Richland and Wayne counties.

“We will not turn a blind eye to criminal enterprises, such as this one,” said Major Gary Allen, the commander of the Ohio Investigative Unit. “We will continue to work with our partners to hold those accountable for their roles in commercial sex businesses.”

The raids occurred at:

■ Sun GR Reflect, Inc., at 17456 Lorain Ave. in Cleveland

■ Robust Asian Massage, LLC, at 16360 Pearl Road in Strongsville

■ SC Relax, Inc., at 14403 Pearl Road in Strongsville

■ Sunny H. Reflex, Inc., at 7914 Broadview Road in Broadview Heights

■ JC Relaxing, Inc., also known as Relax Massage, at 3321 Center Road in Brunswick

■ Three Brunswick apartments on Old Eagle Drive and Plymouth Court

■ Lucky Jade, LLC., at 2747 Medina Road in Medina

■ Ming Relax, Inc., at 4000 Oberlin Ave., Unit 2, in Lorain

■ Posh Massage, Inc., at 37300 Detroit Road in Avon

■ Sun GR Reflect, Inc., 26761 Royalton Road in Columbia Station

■ Hua Nan Massage (formerly SJ Relax, Inc.), at 4004 Milan Road in Perkins Township

■ Relax, Inc., at 1211 West Main St. in Kent

■ Bamboo Relaxing Massage, Inc., at 2522 Cleveland Road, Unit A; in Wooster

■ W&D Relax, Inc, at 1523 Lexington Ave., Unit A, in Mansfield

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, U.S. Secret Service, and FBI were among more than a dozen other law enforcement agencies that assisted in the investigation.