A Putnam Valley businessman has relinquished the wages of crimes committed several years ago.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas ordered Hong Ru “Bruce” Lin on March 26 to forfeit $137,636 in cash and numerous pieces of jewelry that were seized in 2023 during an investigation of his businesses.
Lin was in the business of running massage parlors in Yonkers, Mahopac, Manhattan, Queens and Long Island. His crime was running a prostitution ring at the massage parlors from mid-2020 to mid-2023.
Lin and his wife, Kena “Angela” Zhao, were arrested in September 2023; pleaded guilty in August 2024 to violating the Travel Act, a federal law that prohibits the use of interstate commerce to conduct unlawful activities; and consented to forfeiting $1.3 million in property traceable to the crime.
They were sentenced in January 2025.
Lin, now 52, surrendered in March 2025 and was released from prison this past October. Zhao, now 48, surrendered a week ago, is imprisoned in Waseca, Minnesota, and is scheduled for release on Feb. 4, 2027.
The couple agreed to relinquish their ill-gotten gains 19 months ago, as part of plea deals. But before the government could take the property it had to publicize its intent and allow anyone with a legal interest in the property to file a claim. No one came forward.
The property includes $137,636 that was seized at the couple’s house in Putnam Valley and at three massage parlors and five banks.
Jewelry seized from a safe deposit box at Bank of China, Flushing, Queens include silver bars emblazoned with plants and Chinese characters; a silver Lukfook jewelry box with eight 24K gold rings and a platinum ring with diamonds; a silver Lukfook box with an amber bead necklace; a gold box with two gold bracelets; a black box with a gold choker necklace; and eight pairs of fine silver chopsticks.
The forfeiture order does not say how much the jewelry is worth.
The government agreed in August 2024 that forfeiture of the property would constitute full satisfaction of a $1.3 million judgment representing “proceeds traceable to the offense.
