Chinese National Charged for Trafficking Women from Asia in Boston Sex Ring
A Chinese national was arrested Wednesday on federal charges alleging she trafficked women from Asia to work in a prostitution ring operating out of apartments in Boston.
The suspect, Zengzeng Liu, 40, also known as “Bella,” was indicted June 24 by a federal grand jury in Massachusetts on four counts of recruiting or persuading individuals to travel to engage in prostitution and three counts of using interstate or foreign communications to operate a racketeering enterprise, according to an affidavit filed Wednesday by an FBI task force member.
The operation was uncovered in late 2025 after an FBI task force began investigating advertisements posted on a website known for facilitating prostitution.
Newsweek reached out by email to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts with a request for comment.
FBI Raid
The online advertisements directed customers to apartments in the Allston and Brighton neighborhoods.
One undercover FBI agent called the phone number listed in one of the advertisements and arranged a $600 commercial sex encounter at an apartment on Gardner Street in Allston, which a neighbor complained regularly received male visitors.
A woman dressed only in her underwear answered the door, per the affidavit. After identifying themselves, the undercover agent and other task force officers entered the apartment.
Inside, investigators found a lightly furnished two-bedroom apartment. Each bedroom was said to contain a single bed covered with a white sheet, alongside bottles of lubricant and rolls of toilet paper.
Using a translation app, the woman told investigators she was originally from Japan but had first traveled to Flushing, in New York City‘s Queens borough, before being sent to Boston five days earlier by Zengzeng, who she knew only as the “boss.” The boss had arranged for her to travel to the Gardner Street apartment, she said.
‘The Boss’
Information about what were referred to as “dates” was sent through a group chat on the Chinese messaging app WeChat, she said.
After collecting money from customers, she expected to keep a percentage of the proceeds. However, Asian men regularly came to the apartment to collect the cash, which was ultimately passed on to Zengzeng, she said.
Investigators said the women recruited by the operation were primarily foreign nationals, including one from Japan and two from Vietnam. During their stay, they were not allowed to leave the apartments, they told officers.
All three women said they had been recruited in a similar manner through WeChat, and none said they had ever met Bella in person.
If convicted, Liu faces a prison term of up to 20 years for each count of recruiting or persuading individuals to travel for prostitution, and up to five years on each racketeering-related count.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Frances Mao and Tony Phillips
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This story was originally published July 3, 2026 at 8:15 AM.