Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Kwai Ling Chan and Bobby Chen, a married couple, and Tashi Chimchu were indicted on sex trafficking charges for forcing a Colombian woman to engage in sex for money inside an alleged brothel on Union Street in Flushing. The woman was told she had to work off a $14,000 fee in order to bring her 10-year-old daughter into the U.S. from Colombia.

District Attorney Katz said: “My office is committed to fighting back against the exploitation of Queens residents. The defendants are accused of victimizing a young mother of two trying to reunite with her underage daughter. Too often, sex trafficking victims are made to feel as though they have no other choice but to comply with abusive demands. The Human Trafficking Bureau in my office works hand in hand with the NYPD and our partner service providers to prosecute traffickers while providing resources for victims to safely escape their situation. If you are a victim, I urge you to seek help by contacting my office at 718-286-6548.”

Kwai Ling Chan, 47 and Bobby Chen, 38, both of Simonson Street in Elmhurst, were arraigned yesterday on an indictment charging them with six counts of sex trafficking, two counts of promoting prostitution in the second degree and two counts of promoting prostitution in the third degree.

Tashi Chimchu, 34, of 66th Avenue in Forest Hills, was indicted on three counts of sex trafficking, one count of promoting prostitution in the second degree, one count of promoting prostitution in the third degree, and unlawfully possessing noxious material. He will be arraigned at a later date.

Supreme Court Justice Peter Vallone ordered Chan and Chen to return to court on November 12. If convicted of the top count, the three defendants face up to 25 years in prison.

DA Katz said that, according to the charges and the indictment, defendant Chan met the victim in June 2025. At the time, they agreed on a $14,000 fee to bring the victim’s 10-year-old daughter from Colombia to New York. The victim was told she could pay off the debt by working as a masseuse inside an apartment at 43-17 Union Street. She was further told that having sex with the clients was not required.

Chan demanded possession of the passports for both the victim and the victim’s 6-year-old daughter who was already in the United States. Chan refused to give the passports back until the victim’s debt was paid off. Chan also allegedly increased the amount of debt following a purported infraction by the victim.

Shortly after the victim started working at the location as a masseuse, a client demanded sex in exchange for money and the victim refused. Chan allegedly told the victim that she must comply with the demand for sex or her older daughter would not be brought to the United States. Chan made verbal threats aimed at the victim’s younger daughter to force the victim to continue to engage in prostitution.

Between July 6 and September 4, the victim was forced to have sex with clients in exchange for money several days a week, with the proceeds being handed to Chan or to her husband, Bobby Chen.

Between August 31 and September 4, defendant Chimchu allegedly worked at the location by arranging the dates, negotiating the prices for services and using the company cell phone to schedule appointments with clients who responded to prostitution advertisements. He allegedly collected the proceeds, which were handed to Chan or Chen.

On September 4, members of the NYPD’s VICE Enforcement Division conducted an undercover operation at the massage parlor and arrested Chimchu and Chan. Officers also recovered a pepper spray ball gun from Chimchu. Defendant Chen was arrested upon arriving at the precinct to check on Chan early the following morning.

The three defendants have remained in custody since the arrests.

The investigation was conducted by Police Officer Yingkai Kong and other members of the NYPD’s Queens Vice Enforcement Division under the supervision of Sergeants Jingbo Chi and Sasha Rosen, and Deputy Inspector Stanislav Levitsky, with the assistance of the NYPD Human Trafficking Homeland Security Task Force, conducted by Detective Cynthia Oliva, under the supervision of Sergeant Robert Duplessis and Captain Maripily Clase.

Assistant District Attorneys Kiran Cheema, Supervisor, and Marilyn Filingeri, Assistant Deputy Bureau Chief, of the District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Bureau, are prosecuting the case, under the supervision of Jessica Melton, Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Gerard Brave.