‘Wellness center’ linked to human trafficking in QC
Two wellness center employees and a sales agent pleaded not guilty to charges of human trafficking in a Quezon City court on Monday after they were accused of using a massage parlor as a front for prostitution.
Arraigned Monday morning before Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 77, Judge Germano Francisco Legaspi were Dariel Florenosos, a room boy of Area Forbs Wellness Center along Quezon Avenue, and Riezely Magdaong, a cashier at the establishment.
Also arraigned was plastic products sales representative Rufino Monteza, who claimed he was in the wrong place at the wrong time during the Sept. 11 raid last year at the massage parlor which allegedly offered customers “extra service.”
At large
A fourth accused, Dennis Manzo, owner of the wellness center, remains at large.
The three suspects are detained at the Women and Children Protection Division of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (WCPD-CIDG).
They are accused of conspiring to hire prostitutes who allegedly masqueraded as therapists and offer sexual services for a fee.
The wellness center, police said, was made to appear like “an ordinary spa and wellness center, when in truth and in fact, it offers therapists as prostitutes to their customers.”
Police conducted a raid following a tip from an informant that the trafficking of girls for prostitution had been observed at the massage parlor with masseuses performing “extra services.”
The raid also resulted in the rescue of 10 girls who were hired by the wellness center as therapists.
Of the 10 only three filed complaints against the owner of the spa. They claimed they were unaware of the true nature of their jobs since they were hired initially as “therapists.”
No record
It was also learned that the center did not keep a record of its employees.
Three arrested employees, two roomboys and a security guard were later ordered released for lack of evidence that would link them to the charge of human trafficking.
