Prostitution concerns prompt city to close massage parlor

By Dylan Scott, Dave Toplikar

Published Wednesday, July 21, 2010 | 1:55 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, July 21, 2010 | 4:45 p.m.

The Las Vegas City Council has shut down a massage parlor amidst findings that employees had allegedly offered more than just a tender touch.

Five employees at Oriental Angels Massage, 2600 W. Sahara Ave., were arrested in connection with soliciting prostitution between 2008 and 2010. The council voted today to revoke the parlor’s business license and charged the owner a $50,000 fine for what it called a pattern of illegal conduct.

The owner, Ran Jinli, has also been accused of failing to hire employees with valid licenses as massage therapists.

The council voted unanimously to cancel Oriental Angels’ business license. The fine was approved on a 4-3 vote.

"If they appeal it and it's lowered, at least they are going to pay a fine, and at least people know that we mean business," Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian told reporters after the vote.

Tarkanian, who represents the neighborhood where the massage parlor operated, made the motion to levy the $50,000 fine, saying she thought that a clear pattern of illegal conduct had been established over the last 2 1/2 years.

Councilmen Gary Reese, Steve Ross and Stavros Anthony all joined her in voting for the fine.

"We need to send a clear message to the community this won't be tolerated," Ross said.

Mayor Oscar Goodman and Councilmen Steve Wolfson and Ricki Y. Barlow all voted to revoke the license, but voted against the fine, saying it was too much.

The city's attorney had told the council they might want to consider limiting the fine to $1,000 per incident, unless they thought a clear pattern had been established. Wolfson said he preferred a $5,000 fine — $1,000 for each of the five arrests at the establishment.