Facebook post for the massage parlour.

The owner of a number of massage parlours was given a two-year suspended sentence after he admitted to using them as a brothel.

Four Colombian women who worked there of their own volition were also charged with prostitution.

Joseph Zammit, 42 from Marsascala, was found guilty of living off the earnings of prostitution, owning or participating in the running of a brothel and permitting his property to be used for prostitution or immoral purposes.

Inspectors John Spiteri and Paula Ciantar explained to the court, presided over by magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras, that the man would employ the women as masseuses, who would then offer sexual services to clients.

His lawyer Arthur Azzopardi emphasised that the women were not trafficked, but employed under a profit-sharing arrangement.

“It is a clear case of keeping a brothel. The women were part of a commercial partnership and were paid from the takings of the business,” he said. 

A number of premises in Fgura, St Julians, Birkirkara and Ħamrun were mentioned in the charges.

Read: Women working in 'massage parlour' brothels had up to 12 clients a day

Due to the man’s clean police conduct, the prosecution did not insist on an effective prison sentence. Inspector Spiteri requested that all massage parlour and bar ownership licences be revoked.

Zammit pleaded guilty and was handed a 2-year prison sentence which was suspended for 4 years, together with a €450 fine and a 2-year disqualification of his licence to operate a bar.

The four Columbian women all had passports, insurance, certifications and work permits as masseuses and were charged as co-conspirators. They all pleaded guilty to participating in the running of a brothel.

Zabela Mateus Suri Sarai, 31, from Colombia, Laura Alejandra De La Pena Morales, 20, Monica Liseth Jimenez Cardona, 28 and Mary Isabel Betancourt Arteaga, 33 were all sentenced to a year in jail, suspended for two, together with fines ranging from €100 to €150. They will all be deported.

Lawyer Jonathan Abela also appeared for Mr Zammit. Lawyer Martin Fenech was legal aid to the women.