Zengzeng Liu, aka Bella, a 🇨🇳 national and lawful permanent resident of the US, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston for running a sex trafficking operation out of several residential brothels located in Allston and Brighton, Mass.
Liu was indicted on one count of knowingly persuading an individual to travel in interstate commerce to engage in prostitution and three counts of use of facilities of interstate or foreign commerce in aid of racketeering enterprises. Liu was arrested on July 1 in the Eastern District of New York and will appear in federal court in Boston on July 8, 2026 at 11 am.
Beginning no later than Aug 2025, Liu managed an international sex trafficking operation that recruited women — primarily foreign nationals from Japan, Vietnam, China and the Philippines — to travel to the Greater Boston area to engage in commercial sex acts for buyers at residential brothels in Allston and Brighton. Liu determined when and where the women would perform commercial sex acts, coordinated appointments with sex buyers, collected a commission from the proceeds and used foreign national middlemen to recruit women for the operation. Moreover, Liu used fraud, deceit and altered or forged documents to obtain and maintain apartments used as residential brothels.

Liu advertised women on commercial sex advertising websites and directed prospective sex buyers to contact a phone number controlled by Liu. During undercover communications, Liu negotiated prices for commercial sex acts, directed buyers to the brothel locations and, in later communications, required prospective buyers to undergo a vetting process by providing identifying information, including photographs of work identification, before appointments would be arranged.
Victims consistently described receiving instructions through WeChat from a “female boss” they knew as “Bella,” whom they identified as the organizer of their appointments but had never met in person. Victims traveled through locations including New York, China, Canada and the Philippines before arriving in Boston to work for the operation. Victims further stated that they collected payments from sex buyers but expected only a portion of the proceeds, with the remaining funds collected by couriers and ultimately forwarded to Liu.
During searches of the Allston brothel location, law enforcement encountered women from Japan who had recently arrived in Boston and reported performing commercial sex acts for several days. Nearly $35,000 in cash was recovered from an Allston location, along with condoms, lubrication, surveillance cameras and cellular telephones. Surveillance footage from the Allston location also captured dozens of suspected sex buyers entering and leaving the apartment over multiple weekends, with the location generating tens of thousands of dollars in revenue during those periods.
During a search of the Brighton brothel location, law enforcement encountered women from Japan and Vietnam who reported that they had been engaging in commercial sex acts for several days after arriving at the apartment and were not permitted to leave the location. One victim displayed bruising on her knees, legs and feet and reported sustaining those injuries while performing commercial sex acts for sex buyers. Law enforcement recovered nearly $70,000 in cash from the Brighton location.
Financial records and other evidence revealed Liu used a Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition benefits card to purchase groceries while she was operating the commercial sex business.
In total, approximately $105,000 in cash was seized during the investigation. Based on surveillance, financial records and other evidence, it is estimated that Liu’s sex trafficking operation generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds over the last 11 months.
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