The owner of a Brighton Center massage parlor whose workers offered customers sex for an extra fee has agreed to repay the money she got from two federal pandemic-relief programs last year because prostitution is not one of the businesses for which proprietors were allowed to claim such money.
The feds charged Aticha Jittaphol, 32, of Brighton, owner of the Mantra Dhevi Spa on Academy Hill Road, with two counts of making false statements in federal loan applications, because the applications for both the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and the Paycheck Protection Program required applicants to certify their businesses were not doing anything illegal.
"However, her employees at Mantra Dhevi Spa engaged in prostitution from which she collected a portion of fees paid by each customer," the US Attorney's office reported. "Jittaphol also actively promoted the prostitution by recruiting employees and attracting new customers."
At the same time the US Attorney's office filed an "information" with the charges in US District Court in Boston, Jittaphol submitted a plea agreement in which the US Attorney agreed not to seek prison time if she repaid the $7,066 she received and if she agreed to three years of probation. The deal still has to be approved by a judge.
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Comments
"Jittaphol submitted a plea
By _Sean
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 4:51pm
"Jittaphol submitted a plea agreement in which the US Attorney agreed not to seek prison time if she repaid the $7,066 she received and if she agreed to three years of probation."
Soooo....she filled-out & illegally signed docs for covid aid, was caught...but now only has to return the initial amount she effectively stole?? How is this not the equivalent of robbing a bank and then, if caught, agreeing to return 100% of funds + a few years probation?
This is just like the state police OT nonsense. The feds only made the cops return funds they could 100% prove were fraudulent OT, with no fines and--most notably--ZERO prison time.
$7,066
By adamg
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 5:06pm
Well, she's on probation for 36 months and she now is on record as a felon, which will follow her the rest of her life. Exactly how much vengeance do you want to exact for $7,066?
She runs an illegal brothel,
By _Sean
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 5:12pm
She runs an illegal brothel, illegally took PPP funds and her punishment for both is simply to pay back the PPP funds along with some probation. Maybe I'm nuts, but this seems like a Kraft-level plea deal!
Who's the brothel hurting?
By eeka
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 5:35pm
Possibly
By Waquiot
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 5:44pm
Those forced into the sex trade for whatever reason.
Forced
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 6:41pm
Not all sex workers are forced.
My question is whether she paid her workers with that money or pocketed it.
But some are
By Waquiot
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 7:35pm
Which is why I said “possibly,”
Not
By Joe bob briggs
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 6:47pm
Not all sex workers are trafficked women.
Possible, but speculation
By Tim Mc.
Thu, 09/16/2021 - 12:08pm
Hardly enough to base a harsher punishment on, here in the People's Court.
(Also, I feel like this would have been part of the charges if it were in fact true? Seems like something the prosecution would want to investigate.)
Not even close
By Lecil
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 7:04pm
Charges against Kraft were dismissed.
(It's criminalizing simple prostitution which is nuts...)
She also admited to a state
By Muerl
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 8:18pm
She also admited to a state crime under oath, so I might guess that the suffolk da might have an opinion here.
So they worked through the
By Notfromboston
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 6:39pm
So they worked through the pandemic, got measly 7K, which the government clawed back, and now a criminal record. The Bella Luna closed in March 2020, got millions, which will now be forgiven, and kept their space without paying rent. Where is fairness?
Legalize and unionize sex workers.....
By HootUSMC
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 6:41pm
..... Already, it's the oldest profession FFS, even JC had a sex worker in his crew.
In related news
By Lanny Budd
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 8:31pm
Some inspired Pfizer executive just registered the trade name Jittaphol for their next drug going to clinical trials.
won't be approved...
By coffeeweasel
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 8:47pm
It doesn't have a Q, an X, or a Z in it.
(Expletive)
By Will LaTulippe
Tue, 09/14/2021 - 11:07pm
I hear this exists AFTER the bust. Every (expletive) time. And in my 'hood, to boot.
Maybe time to amend of "Tony's Law"?
By GeeJimmy
Thu, 09/16/2021 - 8:17am
https://www.theonion.com/tonys-law-would-require-m...
Have they been busted?
By Kaz
Thu, 09/16/2021 - 2:28pm
I can't find any record of anyone arresting the owner or the staff for prostitution. Certainly it wasn't a story that Adam has covered in the past either. The only place I see the owner's name tied to prostitution is in this Justice Department memo. Did they get her to somehow own up to the prostitution just to get the COVID funds back? But the city/state didn't actually prosecute her for the acts of prostitution?
Seems odd.
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