The owner of two massage and beauty parlours in Birkirkara, allegedly used for prostitution or other immoral purposes, has been cleared by a court which found "no shred of concrete evidence” leading to criminal liability.

Guohong Rekkers, as director of the company managing three salons, denied having used or permitted the use of two of her shops for prostitution as well as having lived off the earnings of such activities.

In the course of the proceedings, the defendant explained that she had engaged employees to manage and run the salons since she could not single-handedly do so herself.

One of these employees was a “very popular” Chinese masseuse who had many clients and worked long hours even at weekends so as to earn more money. The woman did so out of her own free will since she wished to send sums of money to her family back in China.

A second masseuse working at the Fleur-de-Lys salons was a Bulgarian student on a three-month course who attended the parlours to gain practical experience and training.

When testifying, the defendant stated she had always “insisted with her employees not to do anything that was contrary to law,” making reference to “extra services” which she strongly forbade, considering them to be “not right” and “not hygienic”.

Written messages translating from Chinese as “I love you” and “do you like good/strong hand massage?” had been scribbled by the masseuse herself, the court observed and were different in nature to those written by the salon owner.

Moreover, although a court-appointed expert had deciphered sexually-implicit messages on a mobile phone seized by the police in the course of investigations, these texts were inadmissible as evidence since there was no information in the acts of the case regarding the owner of the mobile phone, the person in whose name it was registered or who had actually used it.

On the basis of the evidence put forward it clearly emerged that the defendant had entrusted the running of the two parlours to her employees, paying brief visits to take her share of the earnings and to replenish necessary supplies.

The prosecution had failed to prove that the owner knew what services were being offered at her salons by the Chinese masseuse, namely immoral activities in breach of her trading licence.

In the absence of such evidence, the court, presided over by magistrate Doreen Clarke, cleared the accused of all charges in her regard.

Inspector Louise Calleja prosecuted. Michael Tanti-Dougall was defence counsel

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