San Francisco’s city attorney has shut down a massage parlor in the Tenderloin that authorities say operated for years as a front for prostitution, following a $275,000 settlement approved by a judge last month.
The agreement permanently closed Empire Relaxation Spa, an unpermitted massage business at 428 O’Farrell St., and imposed decade-long bans on both the business owner and the property owners.
City Attorney David Chiu announced the settlement Tuesday, calling the operation a persistent public nuisance marked by repeated health, safety and criminal violations.
“Empire Relaxation Spa was blatantly operating as a brothel, and was an ongoing nuisance for the surrounding community,” Chiu said in a 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.”
He added, “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.”
Under the settlement, the business owner, Ricky Lee, must pay the city $200,000 and is barred from owning, managing or working at any massage or personal services business in California for 10 years.
The property owners must pay $75,000 in fees and penalties and are prohibited from allowing the site to be used as a massage business or spa for the same period.
Calls to the business went unanswered on Tuesday afternoon.
City officials said the case stemmed from years of undercover police and health department investigations dating back to 2019, when a masseuse offered sexual services to an undercover officer.
Despite the revocation of its permit, the business reopened under a new name and continued operating without authorization, according to court filings.
Inspections by the Department of Public Health later uncovered unsanitary conditions, evidence of unpermitted residential use, and a lack of required human trafficking information.
An alleged sexual battery reported in 2024 and another undercover operation in 2025 ultimately led to a lawsuit filed last July.
“This case exemplifies just how important San Francisco Department of Public Health inspections are to the health and well-being of our communities,” Jen Callewaert, acting director of the department’s environmental health branch, said in a statement. “We take pride in protecting the public and will continue to work tirelessly to keep San Franciscans safe.”
This article originally published at San Francisco shuts down Tenderloin massage parlor linked to prostitution allegations.