Cops fingered this man as owner of a massage parlor they busted. But he says it's not...

[massage]

The man identified by police as the owner of a massage business near Fresno High that was shut down by vice cops this week said he sold the business more than a year ago and is being wrongly singled out.

Ian Vangphayboun, 54, formerly of Fresno and now a Minnesota resident, called The Fresno Bee after an article quoted police as saying he owned the business, and that he faces five violations of the city’s municipal code, such as allowing employees to do massages without a license.

Vangphayboun also is subject to arrest on a $20,000 fraud warrant in Tulare County, police said.

“I’m shocked,” Vangphayboun said. “I sold the shop on March 16, 2016. I have the bill of sale.”


I sold the shop on March 16, 2016. I have the bill of sale.

Ian Vangphayboun


But Sgt. Curt Chastain, in charge the Fresno Police Department vice unit, said Vangphayboun’s claim that he sold the business could not be corroborated by a detective.

“He’s the owner of record” on the city permit that a massage parlor must have to operate, Chastain said.

When the detective checked with the person Vangphayboun said he sold the business to, “he refutes what Ian is saying,” Chastain said. But the case is still under investigation, he added.

Vangphayboun said he was paid for the business and “walked away” after the sale. He said he was shocked to see his name still associated with the business when police raided it Tuesday.

“I’m going to fight to the end,” he said, and added he would seek help from a lawyer.

He said he never ran the massage business and left that to a former girlfriend.

Neighbors of the Lotus Royal Spa at the corner of Weldon and Van Ness avenues complained to city officials about the business, noting the all-male clientele. Earlier this year, police made a prostitution arrest at the business.


I sold the shop on March 16, 2016. I have the bill of sale.

Ian Vangphayboun


The raid Tuesday was not for prostitution, but the business “is the the type we’re seeing that’s full-on sex,” Chastain said.

Tuesday, two masseuses were cited for giving massages without a permit, and police found $7,000 in cash that was booked into evidence.

The masseuses told police they did not know who owns the business and that the door is opened for them before they arrive in the morning by a person they never see.

The city’s code enforcement division turned off the electricity.

Chastain said an officer went by the business Thursday to make sure it had not reopened.

“It’s closed down,” he said. “That’s our main goal.”

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