BUFFALO, N.Y.-- U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn announced today the arrest of Yan Liu, 48, of Amherst, New York. Ms. Liu was charged by Complaint with enticing a woman to travel in interstate commerce for purposes of prostitution and to engage in sexual activity for which she could be charged with a criminal offense. The Complaint was unsealed at Ms. Liu's initial appearance on February 28, 2008 and she is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court on March 5, 2008 for a status of counsel hearing. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert C. Moscati stated that the Complaint alleges the defendant spoke by telephone with an Asian woman then in California on several occasions in August, 2007 and persuaded the woman to purchase an airline ticket and travel to Buffalo for the purpose of working in a massage parlor owned or operated by the defendant. The Complaint alleges Ms. Liu owned or operated Asian Greenday Spa in West Seneca, New York and Rainbow Spa in Amherst, New York. The woman who traveled from California worked in Asian Greenday Spa and performed numerous sexual acts for customers and was paid in "tips" for these services while the parlor's base massage fee was paid over to Ms. Liu

This case was brought as part of the District's Human Trafficking Task Force and Alliance (WDNY HTTFA). In November, 2006, the Attorney General announced the creation of this task force in the Western District of New York, one of 42 nationwide. The WDNY HTTFA is a collaboration of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and non-government service organizations working together to identify, rescue and assist victims of human trafficking, human smuggling and other civil and human rights offenses in the 17 Counties of the District, through aggressive investigation, prosecution, training, education and outreach to law enforcement, non-government organizations, vulnerable and affected persons and the general public.

The joint investigation culminating in these search warrants and arrest included the participation of the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Lev J. Kubiak; the Amherst Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police John C. Askey; the West Seneca Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Edward J. Gehan; the New York State Police, under the direction of acting Superintendent Preston Felton and Special Investigations Unit Lieutenant William Saunders; the United States Border Patrol, under the direction of Acting Chief Patrol Agent Kevin Oaks; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Laurie Bennett; and the Erie County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Howard.

http://www.ice.gov/graphics/news/newsreleases/articles/kingpin070103.htm
Accused Alien Smuggling Kingpin and Financier Faces U.S. Prosecution
"Sister Ping" Brought to Justice After Eluding U.S. Officials For Ten Years

Washington, DC - The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), announced today that Chui Ping Cheng aka "Sister Ping," has been extradited from Hong Kong to the United States. Cheng, an accused human smuggler and financier, has unsuccessfully waged a three-year extradition battle to elude American prosecution.

Cheng has been a fugitive since her 1994 New York indictment, as well as a superseding indictment in 2000 from New York, for alien smuggling, kidnapping, hostage taking and money laundering. In April 2000, she was arrested in Hong Kong after an intensive five-year worldwide investigation by ICE and the New York office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Hong Kong Police, in coordination with the former Immigration and Naturalization Service Hong Kong office, arrested Cheng at the Chek Lap Kok Airport on April 9, 2000. Her three years of extradition appeals in the Hong Kong judicial system were exhausted on June 9, 2003.

Cheng is charged with smuggling thousands of Chinese migrants to the United States between 1984 and 2000, charging fees up to $30,000 per person.

"It may have taken ten years to get Cheng into a U.S. court for smuggling thousands of Chinese migrants but that only demonstrates ICE's resolve to identify, investigate, locate and bring to prosecution those who traffick in human beings," said Michael J. Garcia, Assistant Secretary for ICE. "As a former federal New York prosecutor, I know what a victory this extradition is and want to acknowledge the Hong Kong government for its assistance in seeing justice served."

Human smuggling and trafficking is a global multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry that threatens national security and public safety while undermining the integrity of United States immigration laws. As part of ICE's effort to further coordinate its smuggling and trafficking capabilities, the agency has proposed the implementation of Critical Incident Response Teams, directed from a proposed ICE Smuggling Coordination Center that would deploy resources, equipment and manpower in key geographic areas nationwide.
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