HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A 53-year-old Crosby woman was arrested following an investigation into prostitution occurring at several so-called massage parlors and foot spas in the northwest and southeast parts of the Houston area.
Court records show Hai Lan Ye was charged with the first-degree felony of aggravated promotion of prostitution.
A 41-page search and arrest warrant obtained by KPRC 2 Investigates outlined a joint investigation by Houston police and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Ye was charged in April after police raided her home in the neighborhood of Newport.
“I was wondering what the heck was going on. Honestly, I was surprised,” said neighbor Suliman ‘Sam’ Al-Rasheed. “One of the officers came and asked me about her and I told him, “Honestly she’s a good lady as far as I know.’”
Al-Rasheed said he knew Ye as ‘Jenny’ and even attended a few parties hosted by her and her husband. Al-Rasheed said Ye’s husband has since passed away.
“I’m telling you; she is a nice lady as far as I’m concerned. I have not seen anything abnormal,” he said.
An affidavit for the arrest and search warrants paints a different picture of Ye.
Police wrote business filings for the spas and massage parlors list Ye as the owner or manager of a company listed as running the business. Court documents also show undercover prostitution stings at each location with so-called prostitution ledgers found.
The spas and massage parlors listed in the warrant are located on Kuykendahl, Louetta, FM 1960, and Nanes in the northwest part of the county, and one on Hughes in the southeast part of the county.
Court documents read a bank account connected to Ye also paid for digital ads selling sex at some of the locations.
KPRC 2 Investigates left messages for Ye at her home and several of the businesses listed by police but have not received a response. A call to an attorney listed in court documents as representing Ye has not yet been returned.
The warrant also reads that a prosecutor working on the case received an anonymous letter claiming Ye was connected to several massage parlors and spas and contained this passage, “once we are in the United States they take and keep our passports and our money, in order to force us to do prostitution.”
Al-Rasheed was stunned to see one of the locations listed in the warrant because he said he received a legitimate massage from the business. He said he also struggles to reconcile the accusations leveled against Ye with the woman he knew as a caring neighbor.
“When I had my open-heart surgery and I moved back home, Ye and her son, she had her son living with her here, she and her son would bring me food that they cooked at their house,” said Al-Rasheed.
Both Houston police and officials with the District Attorney’s Office declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Ye was released on a $40,000 bond and is scheduled to be back in court at the end of June.
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