CALGARY -- She insists she was employed as a masseuse while sightseeing in Canada, but officials looking to deport the woman to China say she was working illegally in the sex trade -- a victim of human trafficking.
Calgary police said two women, aged 25 and 41, were sold to undercover officers posing as men starting up a bawdy house operation.
The price to "own" the pair was originally $10,000, but negotiated down to $8,000.
Both victims are from China, one a permanent resident in Canada for several years while the younger one, now in the custody of border officials, arrived here in July.
She had visitor status until January 2010, but last week was "found in a common bawdy house," and according to police trapped in the sex trade.
Federal officials said she breached the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and was involved with "people smuggling" after a woman was charged with human trafficking following the sale of the women.
"At the time of the arrest she was dressed in a manner consistent with somebody working in a bawdy house," government counsel Stephanie Mathyk-Pinto said at a Tuesday hearing to determine if she should remain in custody pending the outcome of her immigration issues.
The woman, assisted by a Cantonese interpreter, said she provided massages in Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton and Calgary, charging $50 to $160 per client and "admitted she did not have any training or a licence as a massage therapist."
Linh (Lindsay) Quy To, 52, is charged with trafficking in persons and numerous other crimes after police claim she advertised sex services from Asian girls online, booking in clients while working at her 4105 4 St. N.W. hair salon and giving directions to houses where women were sexually exploited.
This week, a man went to that salon, unaware of the charges, insistent on seeing 'Lindsay.'
"I just want to get my hair cut," said the man, with a bald head beneath a baseball cap.
He then said he wanted a haircut for his son, who was nowhere in sight. "He's in school, I just wanted to make an appointment," he said.
Told 'Lindsay' allegedly lined up clients for sex he got into his truck and drove off.
The woman, who said she had surgery to "beautify my face," has no fixed address in Canada, no family and no lawful means of financial support, but spoke of a beau in Toronto. "I have a boyfriend and my boyfriend promised me that we will get married," she said.
Mathyk-Pinto said "it appears she does not know his last name."
The woman will be at an immigration hearing today. If it is proven she breached immigration laws, she will be ordered deported.
Canada Border Services Agency spokeswoman Lisa White said in the past two years its officers working with police on similar cases investigated about 30 people in relation to bawdy houses in Calgary -- deporting eight women.
NADIA.MOHARIB@SUNMEDIA.CA
