Alex N. Gecan

@GeeksterTweets

TOMS RIVER - A Berkeley man and woman face charges of promoting prostitution after a four-month investigation and search of a Lakehurst Road massage parlor.

A four-month investigation by federal Department of Homeland Security agents and officers from the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office's Special Operations Group and township Police Department culminated in the Jan. 4 arrest of 56-year-old Nina X. Meng of Edgewood Drive, police said.

Another suspect, 59-year-old James M. O'Brien, who shares an address with Meng, was still at large Thursday.

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Meng ran Redwoods Wellness Center at 515 Lakehurst Road.

"Redwoods, conducting business as a massage parlor, was suspected of soliciting prostitution," according to a prepared statement Toms River police Community Affairs Officer Ralph Stocco. "Allegations of the prostitution were confirmed by way of the investigation as well as through the subsequent evidence procured as a result of the court authorized search warrants."

Stocco later clarified that statement, adding: "Financial and paper documents were recovered during the execution of the warrants as they relate to the business operations."

The federal agents – investigators with Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement Removal Operations unit, an organ of the Department of Homeland Security – were "investigating as to the status of any employees and if they were voluntarily employed or under pressure from the employer," Stocco said.

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Stocco said police began investigating Redwoods four months ago and continue to pursue leads.

Toms River Detective Thomas Grosse ran point on the investigation, Stocco said. Police asked any Redwoods employee or anyone with information on the parlor to call Grosse at 732-349-0150, ext. 1263, or email him at tgrosse@trpolice.org.

"The investigation is ongoing, and there is a potential for additional criminal complaints to be signed," Stocco said.

Alex N. Gecan: 732-643-4043; agecan@gannettnj.com