Human trafficking, forced prostitution charges for massage parlour owner

Winston-Joseph Gera, owner of a number of massage parlours, and Zhang Tianxia were today arraigned in court before Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech on having trafficked two women on October 30 2017 and the months preceding this date.

They were also accused of forcing the two women into prostitution, living off the proceeds of prostitution, running a brothel, using their property for the purposes of prostitution, and causing the two women to fear violence.

Moreover, Gera was accused of stealing a mobile phone, employing persons without the required working and residence permits and without informing the employment agency, using his massage parlours for uses outside what they were licensed for, and for being a relapser.

Gera, 45 and living in St Julian’s, and Tianxia, aged 35, a Chinese national living with Gera, pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

A witness in the case, who is also a victim of the alleged crimes, testified in court via video-conferencing, in view of her status as an injured party. The court ordered the witness’ name not to be published in order to prevent secondary victimisation. 

The victim explained that she had come from Italy and has been in Malta for eight months, having come to the island after being invited by a friend.  

She had worked in a Paceville massage parlour owned by Gera for seven months. She would start work at 10am and finish at 10pm, working seven days a week and sleeping on the premises on a temporary bed in the massage room.  

She explained that she paid €200 a month to Gera for her accommodation. 

The witness also recounted how she had never been given a day off since starting work. Moreover, she was not allowed time-off to attend a religious activity. 

She testified that her work required her to give massages to clients, for which she charged €45 per hour, of which she kept €10 and Gera €35, or €25 for half an hour, of which she kept €5 and Gera the remainder. She would give around five to six massages a day, and was not paid anything extra. 

The witness said that she had however never asked Gera for an increase in her pay. 

She would sometimes ask one of the employees of Gera’s other massage parlours to help her if needed, and said that one of the employees would be given the full payment of €45 when giving a massage. 

The woman said she did not have a permit to work in Malta, and was only in possession of an Italian residence permit. 

In terms of record keeping, she only had a notebook on which she kept a record of how much she was paid by each client. She would only issue VAT receipts to clients if they asked for one. She testified that Gera had instructed her to issue not more than one receipt a day. 

She said the majority of clients did not ask for any other services except a massage, but a few would ask for “extra services”, which she would most times refuse. 

When asked to identify the two accused sitting in the courtroom, via videoconferencing, the witness appeared visibly intimidated, so much so that she seemed fearful of moving to close to the screen.

The court ordered the freezing of all assets of the accused, despite the defence’s objection. 

Taking into consideration the very serious nature of the alleged crime and the punishment they incur, the fact that Tianxia could abscond, in absence of any strict ties with Malta and there being no extradition agreement with China, and the fact that there were still two alleged victims left to testify, the court denied bail. 

The case continues on November 7. 

The accused were legally assisted by lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri. 

Dr Stephanie Caruana appeared parte-civile for the victim.