A Chinese woman has claimed she was forced to engage in prostitution and other “illegal work” by the operator of a chain of massage parlours.

In a letter she wrote to government agency Identity Malta, she gave details of her employer and asked the police to investigate the parlours’ owner for tax evasion.

The letter, which has been seen by the Times of Malta, was referred to the police for investigation. Police sources confirmed they are investigating the allegations.

The woman, who has since been deported, claimed that in October 2014 she was introduced to a Chinese woman from Shanghai who together with her daughter ran a chain of massage parlours in the Sliema area.

She claimed that this woman had lived in Malta for more than 15 years and was “well-respected” by the authorities. She said the woman had “cheated her” by offering her a job in the massage parlours and promising her a three-year visa.

She was asked for an advance payment of €9,000 for the visa application and other paperwork, but when she arrived in Malta in November last year she discovered that her Chinese boss had only applied for a three-month visa. This was then extended by three months, until the end of last June.

She was deported last month.

“They forced me into prostitutions and engage in other illegal acts,” she said in her letter, adding that she worked 11 hours each day without being paid. According to the letter, her boss told her: “Even if we are prostitute, we should be the high-level one...

I appeal to the police to help me recoup the money and penalise her for her illegal acts

“Even if you are caught by the police because you earn money by prostitution in my store, you do not need to worry because I will protect you, as long as you do not confess me.”

The woman claimed that after she refused, the relationship with her boss turned sour and she even threatened to kill her “like killing an insect”.

She said the local police “did not dare offend” her boss, who she said was also evading tax at the massage parlours.

The woman alleged that her boss was afraid she would report the matter to the authorities and she called the police, who turned up at her apartment and eventually deported her.

She is now seeking to be repaid the €9,000 she paid for the work permit and €2,550 for the flight tickets to and from Malta.

“I was suddenly and inexplicably repatriated, and this caused me serious physical and psychological harms, so I appeal to the police to help me recoup the money and penalise her for her illegal acts and appeal to the government to grant me a new visa so I can return to Malta,” the woman said in her letter.

The woman’s claims come hot on the heels of an allegation made by another Chinese woman, who told The Sunday Times of Malta that the massage parlours’ bosses had good contacts with the authorities and that there were instances when ‘massage therapists’ were exposed by their ‘employers’ so they could avoid paying them.

The authorities issued 27 new work permits for Chinese female masseurs until October this year, while another eight were renewed.