7 arrested as HCMC spa probed for illegal genital enhancement services, extortion

HCMC police detained seven employees of a local spa on Friday for illegally offering penis lengthening services, detaining, and extorting customers, following multiple complaints and a mid-July raid.
The employees, four women and three men, of the Gyeongbok spa on Vo Thi Sau Street in District 3 in the city’s center are now under investigation for the acts of "extortion" and "illegal detention."

The owner of the spa is also probed for the same charges but she was released on bail due to pregnancy.

Police said they had previously received complaints that the Gyeongbok spa advertised medical treatments and procedures to "increase penis length" and "extend sexual duration" beyond its authorized functions. Some reported it to have signs of fraud.

In mid-July, several criminal and economic police officers from District 3, along with local police, conducted inspection of the spa, discovering a 47-year-old male customer from the southern Can Tho City being detained by spa staff over a dispute about the exorbitant service charges.

The authorities also found many citizen identification cards and phones of other customers held by the staff due to unpaid service fees.

Determining signs of criminal activity, the police brought everyone in for questioning.

The investigation revealed that the Gyeongbok spa did not have a license from the city’s Department of Health, its business license did not include the functions of performing "penis lengthening" and "sexual duration extension" procedures, yet it still advertised such services and offered them to customers.

The spa hired many employees, but most did not have contracts and were unqualified to perform such procedures, police said.

The owner of the spa admitted to purchasing the equipment to use, despite not fully understanding their functions or effectiveness.

She is accused of managing and assigning tasks to each employee with the intent to defraud and steal from customers.

The police are expanding the investigation and urging anyone who has become victim of the Gyeongbok spa to come forward to the police.