Ohio Couple Swears to Owning, Profiting from 777 Spa

In 2014 Columbus, Ohio couple Haeng Ki “David” Kim and Nam Sook Kim filed for bankruptcy.  As part of their filings, they were required to list all sources of income. They filed the below:

The entity related to 777 Spa, S & TS Ocean Springs, Inc. was created on October 11, 2011.  The company was dissolved by the owners on December 23, 2013.  This is relevant as the federal indictment for Jackie Hwang only covers periods from August 2012 to December 2013.

777’s Luck Runs Out?

In December of 2013 the 777 Spa went dark. The lights were out, no one was home, phone lines were disconnected and the signs were taken down. Chatter on the several online forums dedicated to such massage parlors was that an ordinance or local police activity was the cause. One online poster, assuaging the disappointment of the others at the loss of 777, made a prescient post:

They’ll be back, they always do. They were too successful not to reopen. I am sure, it’s happened over and over, they might move……..that was a “highly visible” location with lots of other businesses in there that didn’t like “that kind of business” as a neighbor.

Even to a regular patron of 777 it was plain to see: the business was a nuisance to its neighbors.

“New” Ownership

In January the spa emerged as JJ Spa and a regular reviewer and visitor to 777 Spa posted:

Dropped in for a visit at JJ’s (formerly known as 777). One of the 2 mamasan’s (Jackie) explained what she alleges actually led to 777 being closed for so long. A buddy of mine wearing a uniform said it was some sort of ordinance that got them but they would reopen. According to Jackie, not true. She claims the business was never actually out of business. She said the new owner, a girl who used to work there (nameless however) purchased the business back in early December and Jackie was still going to be the mamasan however, about that time she had a really bad accident in the kitchen burning her left arm and hand severely with hot boiling water. So she was out of commission for a while and they closed the doors for a while. When I spoke to Jackie her whole left arm was wrapped in gauze as well as her right hand. So I tend to believe the injury for sure. At any rate, Angel will be back in April when she gets a break from school. Most of the girls who rotated in and out will reappear according to Jackie. And yes, all of your frequent flier miles are still good. I’m still 1 visit away from a free house fee. The new owner apparently wants to keep everything exactly a it was – just a new name on the door and a new owner.

The poster appears to be talking about Jackie Hwang, who was indicted on Friday. A “mamasan” is an older woman who works as a manager and caretaker of the operation. So while there was purportedly new ownership, the current staff rotations and management would stay in place.

As for new ownership, recall that S&TS Ocean Springs dissolved itself in December of 2013.  Just two weeks before, a new entity – JJ Spa, LLC was formed.  It listed Eun Ja Kang as the owner. A few months later JJ Spa’s sole member would be listed as Hana Sanghee Bergeson. Bergeson appears to be a resident of Los Angeles, Calif.

Sang Hee Bergeson is list in Los Angeles County records as being associated with “Sea Breeze Wellness Center” which operates similarly to JJ Spa. Sea Breeze is located in Tarzana.  Sea Breeze Wellness Center, Inc. was formed using the services of a criminal defense attorney in San Diego.

Diverse Interests

David Kim, who owned 777 Spa from 2011-2013 used the services of Columbus, Ohio based accountant Yeon Bae “Ryan” Kong. Kong handled tax preparation work and corporate filings for Kim and Kim’s various entities. As was listed in the bankruptcy filings, Kim was associated with three:

• S&TS Ocean Springs, Inc. – 777 Spa – 6819 Washington Ave, Ste 1 Ocean Springs, MS formed 10/11/2011
• S&M Mobile, Inc. – Win Spa – 5256 Hwy 90 A, Mobile, AL formed 9/19/2011
• NS Koolman, Inc. – New Star Sauna – 5675 Hwy 90 A, Theodore, AL formed 10/22/2012

It appears Kim made an entrance to the coast in the fall of 2011. 777 Spa had already been in operation for a year. Ace Sauna, later to become Win Spa in Mobile appears to have been started at that time.  Win was raided by Mobile authorities August 7, 2015.

The fact that the ownership of Ace Sauna and 777 Spa were the same was not concealed from customers; it was promoted. A poster on the review forum wrote on September 16, 2011:

Got a question for any of you guys who travel through Mobile often. I was just told that 777 has a sister sauna in Mobile but I have not seen it. Its either A C sauna or ACE sauna.
Has anyone seen it??? Sorry for not knowing AC from Ace but I got the info from an asian chick and I honestly am not sure which she said even though I made her say it like 8 times. She pronounced it AY-Shee Sauna so your guess is as good as mine.

I will be doing some recon tomorrow to try and spot it. I love my time at 777 so if its the same owner I might have to pull double duty.

Two weeks later the same poster stated:

Sorry about starting the sister spa thing and then the delay when I mentioned it. I actually had to make a trip there for a friend after I mentioned it on the MS spa board. I know for sure one of the girls there had worked at 777 way back. That doesn’t make it a sister spa though.

[…]The owner of VIP has a place in Montgomery as well and is close friends with the owner of Ocean here in Mobile who owns one in H’burg and Conn. and all of them discuss getting out classed by 777. I have even heard rumblings as far up as NJ about 777. I have not tried to establish who owns 777 but I know from the complaining tones they are a young group in age and not like the 70+ y.o. women who own the others.

The networks behind the parlors and rings were also apparent to the customers. David Kim is thought to be 71 years old.

Family Ties

It is not uncommon for those operating prostitution fronts to enlist family members in an attempt to obscure ownership. David Kim’s sister, Sun A Kim, pleaded guilty to promotion of prostitution in 1992 on a charge in Allegheny County, Penn.

JJ Spa, LLC

District Attorney Tony Lawrence told the media that 777 Spa and JJ Spa had the same ownership. If that is truly the case, the use of sham directors to conceal the true identity of owners and control shifted dramatically in December 2013.

As stated above, David Kim controlled S & TS Ocean Springs, Inc for 777 Spa. He used Ohio accountant Ryan Kong to set up and maintain filings for all of his entities. The entities were also named using initials and couldn’t be easily identified as being associated with the spas.

When JJ Spa opened, it brazenly did so with an LLC of the same name. JJ Spa, LLC’s filings are maintained by New Jersey accountant Ki Sang An. An appears to be licensed in New York, but not across the Hudson River in Fort Lee where he maintains an office.