San Francisco shuts down massage parlor accused of operating as brothel for years

By Carlos E. Castañeda

A massage parlor near San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, long accused of being a front for prostitution, was ordered to be shut down as part of a lawsuit settlement, authorities announced Tuesday.

The San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said in a press statement that his office had secured a $275,000 settlement that permanently closes Empire Relaxation Spa on O’Farrell Street, between Jones and Taylor Streets. The statement said the business is an unpermitted massage parlor that operated as a brothel. 

Chiu said his office filed suit against the business owner, Ricky Lee, and property owners Deborah and Richard Bocci and the Bocci family trust, in July 2025 after multiple law violations since at least 2019. 

One stipulated injunction will prohibit Lee from owning, managing, or working at a massage or personal services business in California for 10 years, and requires him to pay the city $200,000. A second stipulated injunction prohibits the Boccis from using the property as a massage business or a spa for 10 years, along with paying the city $75,000 in fees and penalties.

“Empire Relaxation Spa was blatantly operating as a brothel, and was an ongoing nuisance for the surrounding community,” said Chiu in a prepared statement. “The conditions in the facility were unsettling due to various health and safety violations, and it was apparent that sex workers were living in those conditions. The business and property owners ignored numerous notices of violations from City departments. I’m glad this illegal business with its countless health and safety issues is no longer operating, and the owners will be held accountable.”
 
Chiu said since 2019, the Police Department and the city’s Department of Public Health have conducted multiple undercover operations at the business, formerly known as Empire Massage. In May 2019, a masseuse allegedly offered an undercover police officer sexual services in exchange for money, and two months later, the DPH revoked Empire’s massage permit. 

Later, the business was reopened as “Empire Relaxation Spa” at the same address, but without a permit to provide massage services, Chiu said. In 2020, a DPH decoy was offered a massage, and DPH notified the property owners of the illegal activity, Chiu said.

Other instances cited by Chiu included:

• In April 2024, an Empire client told police he was a victim of sexual battery after a masseuse offered him sexual services and touched his genitals without permission.
• In February 2025 after DPH found online advertising for massage services at Empire Relaxation Spa, a woman allegedly offered to allow a DPH decoy to massage her while she made sexually suggestive hand gestures. A DPH found various massage tables and materials, along with numerous health and safety violations.
• In March 2025, DPH ordered Ricky Lee to abate the violations, cease illegal activities, and pay administrative penalties. A re-inspection in April 2025 found the business continuing as a massage establishment without a permit, as well as other violations.
• In May 2025, the San Francisco Planning Department issued a Notice of Enforcement against the Defendants for additional violations.
• In June 2025, an undercover police officer entered the business and requested a massage. The masseuse allegedly touched the officer’s genitals without consent and told the officer it was $120 “for everything.”

The July 2025 lawsuit against Empire Relaxation Spa alleged defendants violated local and state health and safety codes, multiple municipal codes, California’s Unfair Competition Law, the state’s Red Light Abatement Law, and created a public nuisance that endangered the health and safety of employees and the public. The business ceased operations later that month.
 
The stipulated judgments were entered on December 18, 2025.