The Florida Surgeon General and Secretary of Health, Dr. John Armstrong, suspended the licenses of 81 massage therapists. Armstrong signed off on the last emergency order during a press conference with Gov. Rick Scott at the Hillsborough County Department of Health on Wednesday.
Scott said it appears some of those suspended therapists paid a massage school employee a lot of money for the documents needed to obtain their license.
"The investigation has revealed that some massage therapists paid between $10,000 and $15,000 for fraudulent college certificates and transcripts," Gov. Scott said.
The Governor said the employee, who worked in the school's registrar's office, has been fired. Scott declined to name that employee or the massage therapy school citing an on-going investigation.
Armstrong said more information about the case will come out in the next few weeks. The fraudulent licenses came to light during a joint investigation of massage establishments between the FL Dept. of Health and the Clearwater Human Trafficking Task Force, according to the Governor's office.
"If you want to break the law, if you want to prey on the vulnerable, if you're in anyway in the business of human trafficking, you don't want to do it in Florida," said Scott.
Clearwater Police Chief Tony Holloway said Florida ranks third in the nation for human trafficking.
Hillsborough Sheriff David Gee said human trafficking is a subtle crime, not like the movie 'Taken'.
Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said citizens should be aware of human trafficking when they visit certain establishments such as nursing homes, restaurants and adult entertainment businesses.
"The public should be aware that sometimes when they walk into these businesses there's people in there that are providing them with services that are really enslaved," he said.
A few clues to look out for are employees who live in the same place they work, don't have freedom of movement or show signs of physical abuse, according to the FBI.
Scott said he ordered the DOH to lead a seven day review of all massage therapy schools in Florida to make sure they're complying with all licensure requirements and regulations.