Iowa City massage parlor owners accused of prostitution, money laundering
September 24th, 2025 by Ric Hanson
(Radio Iowa) – Iowa City Police have arrested three people on multiple charges in a human trafficking investigation involving two massage parlors. Radio Iowa’s Dar Danielson reports.
(As said) – Iowa City Police say the investigation and found the owners of two Paradise Spa locations, 60-year-old Zhenshi Liu and 56-year-old Junping Ren provide sex to male clients. They also required numerous female workers to provide sex to the clients while working more than 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Police say the two laundered two-point-six million dollars in cash from the massage parlors by buying two residential properties. They also face charges of pandering for prostitution and pimping. Zhenshi Liu is also accused of sexually assaulting a customer. The couple’s son 33-year-old Yang Liu of Hoover, Alabama is accused of assisting in laundering the money his personal accounts.
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The Iowa D-C-I, Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement, and the F-B-I assisted Iowa City Police in the investigation, along with several local and county law enforcement agencies.