Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Wednesday the filing of a lawsuit against the operators of an alleged ring of brothels fronted by massage parlors in Eagle Rock, Wilmington and North Hollywood.
The nuisance abatement lawsuit targets Helen Haihong Huang and Mark Richard Vitatern, who operate MHWI Int'l Inc., and others believed to be associated with a ring made up of at least four businesses.
Two parlors are in Eagle Rock, one at 6630 N. Figueroa St and another at 5740 York Blvd., near the We Tell Stories art school and the Highland Park Foursquare Church, according to the city attorney.
The other businesses in Wilmington, at 1037 Avalon Blvd., and North Hollywood, at 3214 De Witt Drive, are also near churches, he said.
The lawsuit seeks orders prohibiting the operators from running similar businesses and the property owners from allowing such activity.
The lawsuit alleges the massage parlors were covers for prostitution businesses that advertised their services on the Internet and used text messages to set up appointments.
Searches by Los Angeles Police Department officers on Jan. 7 turned up a condom bin at one business and about $80,000 in cash at the home of one of the operators, according to the City Attorney's Office.
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The alleged ringleaders operated four other businesses in Los Angeles that have since shut down, following several prostitution arrests, according to Feuer.
