House of Ill-repute
For local store owners, a neighboring business’s reputation can be just as important as their own, especially when it comes to attracting the right type of clientele to their store. Several years ago, we were asked to help a local office park association with one of their tenants.
The association’s board had received complaints from other tenants that a massage service business located on the property was believed to be operating as a house of prostitution. According to the complaints, the business had covered all of their windows, installed special cameras, kept the front door locked throughout the day, and the customers who were seen patronizing the establishment were all men. Although operating a house of prostitution in their state was a crime, and something typically investigated by law enforcement, the association’s board wanted to initiate their own investigation to expedite eviction of the tenant if deemed necessary.
Our investigators performed research on the business and its owner using both open-sources and specialized investigative databases.
Our investigators performed research on the business and its owner using both open-sources and specialized investigative databases. Court records and press releases were found on the massage business’s owner which tied the person to massage businesses in other states that had been shut down by law enforcement in the past. Our investigators then logged into a public website that was known as a customer review platform for sex-for-hire businesses and escort services. They found pages of reviews from members who reported receiving sexual encounters at the establishment for a fee. Many of these reviews contained graphic descriptions about their experiences and some even listed the business’s employees by name.
Finally, our investigators visited the business under the pretext of receiving a traditional, legal massage. But once inside, they were quickly offered sex for a fee instead. Based on our investigative report in this matter, the board found the tenant to be in violation of the terms of their property lease and thus, moved to have the massage business evicted from the property.