For Robert Kraft things did not go as desired. Prior to the NFL semi-final match of his football team, the New England Patriots, against the Kansas City Chiefs on January 20, he quickly visited the "Orchids of Asia Day Spa" massage parlor in Jupiter, Florida. There, he explained, investigators later, let an employee oral satisfy. You have the whole thing on film. Kraft denies the allegations.
Because prostitution is illegal, a lawsuit is running against force - and against nearly 300 other state-owned massage studio clients as well. It is in the investigation of forced prostitution on a large scale. Many of the women who work in the salons came from China and were detained against their will, according to the authorities.
The founder of the "Orchids of Asia Day Spa", the Chinese-born Li Yang, who prefers to use the name Cindy Yang, is now in the public focus - also because she is said to have raised money for US President Donald Trump. And, in turn, has long been friends with Robert Kraft, the football club owner who is now in trouble with Florida justice.
The Miami Herald first reported on Yang and her connection to Trump. In the article, the 45-year-old assures that she has sold the "Orchids of Asia Day Spa" long before the thing with force. She wants to move to Washington soon and has no interest in negative reporting. However, other massage parlors called "Tokyo Day Spa" still belong to Yang's family.
Of course, the newspaper report makes it clear that there is no charge against them. Even when the Florida authorities recently closed ten Asian day spas on suspicion of trafficking, none were registered on Yang or her family. For example, Hua Zhang, who bought the "Orchids of Asia" from Yang, is being charged.
Not interested in politics for a long time
Yang has been living in the United States for about 20 years, working as a journalist in Silicon Valley, selling antiques and Chinese silk dresses, and promoting artists, according to US media reports. Since 2016, she seems to have discovered her enthusiasm for politics, first for Jeb Bush, the former Republican governor of Florida, and later for Donald Trump.
She's looking for a closeness to Republican top executives - and she's obviously willing to pay in large sums of money. The New York Times now reports that she has raised $ 50,000 in donations so she could take a photo with Trump at an event last March, which the president later even signed with a silver pen.
This looks like an earmarking scheme.
That's a violation of federal election laws and a crime.
Florida massage parlor founder Cindy Yang orchestrated Trump donations https://t.co/7KbmJbrk8x
The occasion was a donation dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Resort in Palm Beach. Because individual financiers could not contribute more than $ 5,400, but the photo opportunity cost $ 50,000, Yang had at least nine people from their environment to donate money to Trump - each exactly $ 5,400. Among the donors were her husband and her mother, as well as several women who worked in shops of Yang's family.
On Yang's now unreachable Facebook page, the Miami Herald, not only had the photo taken with Trump, but also pictures with other people around the president, his sons Eric and Donald Jr. Example, but also Ron DeSantis, the Republican Governor of Florida, the Republican Senator, ex-Governor Rick Scott or Sarah Palin, the former Republican Governor of Alaska. A selfie by Yang and Trump is also available from a Superbowl party on February 3rd of this year.
"VIP Activities in Mar-a-Lago"
This is spicy, because according to the New York Times, Yang is also the founder of GY US Investments, which is said to have sold Chinese access to US politicians. The offer included visits to the White House and "VIP activities in Mar-a-Lago". The newspaper cites the example of actress Sun Ye from Beijing, who visited Trump's New Year's party in Mar-a-Lago on a trip to the US. However, the president had not appeared because of the shutdown there in the short term, for a picture only Son Donald Jr. were available.
However, Yang is not just trying to make good connections in her new homeland, she also feels that she has good relations with the Chinese state, according to the magazine "Mother Jones". She supports an organization that, in Beijing's favor, supports Taiwan's return to the Chinese state and the Chinese Association of Science and Technology. Such groups are under the control of the Chinese state and have served to enforce its interests in the West.
Yang's attorney Evan W. Turk, meanwhile, laments the negative press for his client, whose name, reputation and honor have been destroyed. "Cindy Yang seems to have become another victim as a supporter of our president."