FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
April 19, 2019
For media inquiries only, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Steve Marshall
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
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Alabama Attorney General
Attorney General Steve Marshall Gets Restraining Order Against North
Alabama Massage Businesses in State’s First Civil Human-Trafficking
Case
(MONTGOMERY) – The Madison County Circuit Court has granted a request by Attorney
General Steve Marshall for a temporary restraining order against a chain of North Alabama
massage businesses that he said was actually operating a human-trafficking enterprise. This
is the first civil action taken under the new civil enforcement provision to Alabama’s human-
trafficking law. The complaint also alleges violations of Alabama’s Deceptive Trade Practices
Act.
TY Green’s Massage Therapy, Inc., its owner Yuping Tang, and manager Jiao Liu, who is her
daughter, and their four businesses are restrained from conducting business in Alabama. The
businesses operate in Huntsville under the names Health Massage and Massage Foot Care,
and in Madison and Decatur under the name Massage Foot Care. All assets have been frozen,
and a receiver was appointed by the Court to take control of the businesses until a
preliminary injunction hearing can be held.
“Alabama’s new law provides a valuable tool to more effectively fight human traffickers and
restore dignity and freedom to their victims,” said Attorney General Marshall. “With this
civil action, we were able to respond to the dire urgency of the situation, shut down the
trafficking operation, rescue the victims, and preserve assets that can be used to help those
who have been harmed.”
In his legal complaint, Attorney General Marshall told the Court that “evidence collected
during this investigation has revealed that the Defendants are running illicit massage
businesses that serve as fronts for a human-trafficking operation. In the Defendants’
organization, the ’employees’ work incredibly long hours during which at least some of them
are expected to engage in sex acts with the businesses’ customers. When the victims are not
‘working,’ they seem to have little freedom of movement, they are transported in groups to
and from the Defendants’ businesses and are kept in houses owned by the Defendants where
they are left to eat and sleep in terrible conditions. The Defendants, on the other hand, have
reaped millions of dollars in revenue from their businesses, and the Attorney General now
brings this action in order to put an end to their conduct and protect their victims from
further harm.”
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501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us Page 2 of 2
This immediate civil court action was vital, the Attorney General explained, to keep
defendants from moving and hiding their victims as well as to stop disposal or transfer of
assets. In addition to financial accounts, the defendants’ business premises and residences
have been seized. Attorney General Marshall has asked the Court to permanently shut down
the defendants’ human-trafficking network and grant monetary damages as restitution for its
victims.
The victims are of Chinese nationality. Information is not available at this time about how
many victims there are. For safety reasons, their whereabouts may not be disclosed. This
matter is a civil proceeding. There is no further comment.
Attorney General Marshall thanked the agencies involved in the investigation of this case,
including the Alabama Board of Massage Therapy; the Alabama departments of Labor and
Revenue; the Morgan and Madison county district attorneys’ offices; the Madison, Huntsville
and Decatur police departments, the Madison City Attorney’s Office, the Madison County
Sheriff’s Office, the National Children’s Advocacy Center and the Alabama Fusion Center.
He commended those handling the case in the Attorney General’s Office, noting in particular
Assistant Attorneys General Audrey Jordan and Michael G. Dean, the Consumer Interest
Division and Special Agents in the Investigations Division.
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