Ventura County woman accused of running brothels disguised as beauty spas

Ventura County sheriff’s detectives arrested a woman who they say operated brothels disguised as spas.

Detectives began looking into Swan Spa in Thousand Oaks earlier this year after suspecting employees were selling sex services to customers. Spa owner Amanda Xia, 44, was arrested Nov. 13 on charges including pimping and money laundering.

Xia owns three other businesses advertised as massage and wellness centers, which the sheriff’s department said were also operating as commercial sex establishments.

“Detectives were able to positively identify multiple male individuals suspected of purchasing commercial sex at each of the four locations under investigation,” the department said in a news release.

The other businesses were Star Spa in Newbury Park, Victoria Spa in Lake Forest and Four Seasons Spa in Lake Forest, according to the sheriff’s department.