Review Board OKs license suspension

Massage shop vote stems from solicitation complaints

In what's believed to be the first case of its kind in the city's history, the Boulder City License Review Board voted 3-0 last week to continue the business license suspension for Ada Chan's Asian Massage on Nevada Way.

The suspension is effective until all appeals are exhausted, according to City Attorney Dave Olsen.

Chan's 833 Nevada Highway No. 5 business was shut down Oct. 6, less than a month after she took it over, after she allegedly offered illegal sex to both a Boulder City detective and three Henderson police officers assigned as undercover investigators.

Mayor Bob Ferraro approached the city attorney saying there had been some complaints about the business, Olsen said.

Olsen, in turn, contacted Police Chief Bill Turk, who ordered the investigation.

"One of our police officers ... was offered illegal services by this individual, not by one of her employees, but this individual, and based on that she was arrested and the business was closed," Olsen said at an Oct. 25 hearing, where Chan's attorney, Ron Hubel, appealed the initial suspension.

Olsen added that the"license will remain suspended until she has her day in court because of the nature of the alleged activities. We don't do or allow those to occur here in Boulder City. Her business license did not include that type of business activity."

Police Detective Scott Leonard said he and officers from the Henderson Police Department working undercover received more than one solicitation offer.

"Myself and other undercover officers went in there and we received three different solicitation charges, two of them from Miss Chan and one from her employee," Leonard said in describing what occurred twice at the business. "We made two separate visits. Two officers went in each time, there were only two ladies working there."

Hubel attempted to present a defense that included a dispute with a previous owner and landlord over the rent, how much was to be paid and previous activities involving the business. But the board, made up of Olsen, Turk and Finance Director Bob Kenney, heard the city attorney debunk the defense.

"The lease has nothing to do with what we're doing here today," Olsen said. "I have to tell you this is not even based on the previous owner at all. It's strictly based on our relationship with her. We aren't holding any grudges over what happened prior to her arrival or anything like that. This is solely based on the officers' interactions with your client specifically."

Hubel, after hearing the testimony, appealed for probationary status in order to keep the business open in the interim so Chan can meet her financial obligations.

"I think she understands the continuation of the seriousness of this and the only thing I would do is appeal to this administrative board that we put a probationary status on this license ... until such time that there's the initial client's arraignment," Chan's attorney said.

"These are serious charges, but I think more importantly getting to the bottom of this, she needs to have her day in court and we need to find out what kind of evidence may or may not be there to support this charge," he said.

Turk added that he felt uncomfortable letting the business remain open while court dates and a final disposition of the case were pending.

"I think my concern in reviewing it ... she opened in September and the first part of October, she had a fairly serious violation," Kenney said in summation before the vote. "Certainly, this is a new business starting out on the wrong foot. This is serious enough that we need the (suspension) of the license until we find out the circumstances involved."

In the end, Hubel accepted the board's decision and received assurances from Olsen that the city attorney's office would do what it could to move up the Dec. 7 Municipal Court arraignment date in Judge Victor Miller's chambers.

Olsen also noted that Hubel has 10 days to appeal the license review board's decision to the City Council.


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