D.C. moves to shutter alleged brothels
By: Freeman Klopott
Examiner Staff Writer
May 26, 2009
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Despite a series of lawsuits and police raids, District Mayor Adrian Fenty’s administration has been unable to close several Northwest massage parlors officials have identified as brothels.
Timeline
» 2001: District officials inform Supra Inc.’s landlord, George Thanos, of a “prostitution-related nuisance” running out of the massage parlor.
» March 4, 2008: Supra and Capital Rendezvous Inc. are raided by police.
» Sept. 12, 2008: Capital agrees to close until it gets a proper business license.
» Sept. 24, 2008: Attorney General Peter Nickles sues Thanos, saying Thanos has a “duty to abate” prostitution activity.
» Dec. 2, 2008: Jasmine Therapy is raided by police.
» March 27, 2009: Capital gets a license as GHS Health Spa and reopens.
» April 1, 2009: DCRA sends letter to Jasmine informing its owner he must close.
» April 22, 2009: Nickles amends complaint against Thanos, saying the prostitution nuisance continues.
» April 30, 2009: DCRA withdraws the complaint against Jasmine. A DCRA spokesman says the investigation is “ongoing.”
Source: Records from D.C.’s Superior Court and Office of Administrative Hearings
District Attorney General Peter Nickles filed lawsuits against two of the establishments.
“These places are very elusive,” Nickles told The Examiner. “We file complaints and either there’s a court resolution or fines, but then they sprout right back up again without us knowing about it.”
In the attorney general’s lawsuits, city lawyers said the parlors consistently operated as houses of prostitution. The attorneys based that charge on information from the police department.
On March 4, 2008, District police raided Supra Inc. at 1333 Connecticut Ave. NW, court records show. Prosecutors charged one woman with running a house of prostitution, but a grand jury did not indict her. Lim Seuna had her charge of sexual solicitation dropped pending her completion of a prostitute diversion program.
In May 2008, Nickles sued the company, demanding it close its doors until it obtained a license to operate a massage parlor. But a month after the owner agreed to close, another police raid revealed it was still selling women for sex, according to documents. That’s when Nickles turned his attention to the building’s owner, George Thanos.
According to Nickles’ lawsuit filed against Thanos in September, Thanos was informed by officials of the brothel in his building in 2001. An amended version of the lawsuit filed April 22 said, “A prostitution-related nuisance continues to exist at the Property.”
Thanos’ attorney Wendell C. Robinson denied that there was a brothel at the address. He said Thanos has kicked the original owner out of the building and has now leased it to a licensed massage therapist. Mike Rupert, a spokesman for the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, said there was still no business license. The case against Thanos is pending.
In response to complaints from residents regarding a “prostitution-related nuisance” at 1333 Green Court NW, police raided Capital Rendezvous Inc. on March 4, 2008, court documents said. The prostitution-related charges were dropped after the three women agreed to community service, court records show.
DCRA officials accused another establishment, Jasmine Therapy on M Street near Dupont Circle, of permitting prostitution last month.
In the April 1 letter notifying Jasmine owner David E. Roberts that DCRA wanted to close his business, an official wrote, “DCRA has determined that you knowingly permitted an act of prostitution on the Property.” The letter was referencing a Dec. 2 raid in which a Korean woman from Queens, N.Y., Xiang Cui, was charged with sexual solicitation. She was released after entering a first-time offender agreement.
But an Office of Administrative Hearings judge said in records that District attorneys failed to follow proper procedures for closing Jasmine, and the agency withdrew the complaint.
Rupert said he could not comment on an “ongoing investigation.” Brian Bregman, who is listed as Jasmine’s attorney in OAH records, declined to comment.
Nickles successfully shuttered Capital Rendezvous in September after the company consented to closing its doors until obtaining proper business licenses. The company now has those licenses and has reopened under the name GHS Health Spa, Rupert said.
The owners never admitted wrongdoing.
“We are going to do a far-reaching investigation into this whole area,” Nickles said.
fklopott@washingtonexaminer.com
