Hunterdon County man sentenced to 33 months in prison for producing phony massage therapy training certificates for prostitution businesses
NEW JERSEY – A Hunterdon County man was sentenced Monday to 33 months in prison for producing and selling fraudulent massage therapy training certificates for use in various New Jersey massage parlors that engaged in prostitution, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.
Naresh Rane, 68, of Tewksbury Township previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson to Count 1 of an indictment charging him with knowingly and intentionally using and causing the use of facilities in interstate commerce to promote, manage, establish, carry on, and facilitate the business of prostitution, Sellinger said.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Rane owned and operated Axiom Healthcare Academy, which purported to provide classes in massage therapy training. Rane held himself out as a businessman who, for a fee that ranged from $1,000 to $2,600, could provide massage therapy training certificates to anyone who wished to obtain a massage license without the required training. Rane was also willing to provide phony transcripts listing classes and grades.
Between November 2013 and March 2014, Rane provided 10 fraudulent massage therapy training certificates and transcripts to a former Westwood, New Jersey, councilman who then gave them to prostitutes working in different massage parlors located in Union, Passaic, Hudson and Middlesex counties.
Rane admitted that he knew the documents he was producing and selling were used to disguise prostitution activities as legitimate massage services, Sellinger said.
In addition to the prison term, Rane was sentenced to three years of supervised release.
