Owners confirm they leased out property to Chinese massage parlour owner

Landlords who leased out their premises to a Chinese restaurateur, charged with turning their premises into a brothel disguised as a Chinese massage parlour, have today confirmed in court today that the accused was their tenant, but argued that the rent was not paid by the accused himself.

The owners were summoned to testify in the compilation of evidence of 52-year-old Chinese man De Quan Feng.

Feng, who is a holder of a Maltese passport and currently resides at St Paul’s Bay, is pleading not guilty to charges of human trafficking, of running a brothel, and of living off the earnings of prostitution.

The accused, who in the past used to do translation services from Chinese to English during court cases, owns a Chinese restaurant in Mellieha.

Feng is currently out on bail.

The case was brought to light after officers moved in on three massage parlours in St Venera, Paola, and Rabat, where they found three Chinese women who were allegedly forced into prostitution

The three parlours are Golden Fingers in St Venera, Chinese Massage in Paola and Massage Parlour in Rabat.

During a previous sitting, one of the Chinese women employed by the accused told the court that Feng threatened them with dismissal if they refused to perform inappropriate actions on the clients in exchange for more money.

Taking the witness stand, Alex Pace, the owner of the premises in Santa Venera, said that Feng – whom he knows as “Jerry” – pays for rent of the property himself.

He said that he has known the accused for the past 14 years, and for the last years he had been leasing him the property in Santa Venera, which is now called Golden Fingers.

However, on her part, Kurcifissa Pisani, the owner of ‘Massage Parlour’ in Aristarku Street, Rabat, said that a certain Raymond paid for the lease on behalf of Feng. Without providing any concrete details on Raymond, Pisani said that he is Maltese and that he used to pay for the rent in cash.

Asked how she knows the accused, Pisani told the court that she had rented a flat to the accused.

Louis Aquilina, the 91-year-old landlord of the ‘Chinese Massage’ in Oratory Steet, Paola did not appear in court due to health reasons.

Inspectors Sylvana Briffa and Joseph Busuttil prosecuted, while Lawyer Jason Grima is appearing in parte civile on behalf of the three Chinese victims.

Dr Joe Brincat is defence counsel.

The case continues.