Read the X-rated sign that triggered a police raid at a Bali day spa owned by Aussie pub baron couple – as they’re accused of running an illegal brothel
A striking sign outside the Bali Pink Palace Spa sparked the Indonesian police raid that landed an Australian couple behind bars.
The spa’s sign, now covered with a hastily applied tarpaulin, revealed it was supposed to be a bisexual brothel when it boasted: “Happy coq, happy life.”
The police raid led to the arrest of Melbourne couple Michael, 50, and Lynley Le Grand, 44, as local officers cracked down on Bali’s illegal sex industry.
The Australian couple own the popular catering empire GOAT bar in Bali but are now in custody following the raid on the Pink Palace ‘sensual spa’.
Indonesian reports say the Pink Palace was raided because it allegedly “provided same-sex prostitution and bisexual practices,” which is against Indonesian culture.
On the day of the raid, the police reportedly found ‘a number of sexy-dressed women and muscular men behaving in an effeminate manner’.
Homosexuality is frowned upon in Indonesia. A Bali police spokesman said officers seized items from the Pink Palace, including lingerie, condoms and massage oil.
Police have now barricaded the location with police tape and draped a cover over the large pink neon sign promoting ‘sensual spa and relaxation’ with a cartoon of a rooster wearing sunglasses with the words ‘Happy Coq, Happy Life’.
Michael Le Grand’s head bowed, he and his wife Lynley are paraded in handcuffs outside Bali police headquarters after their arrest
Lynley and Michael Le Grand own a hospitality empire in Bali, where the Melbourne couple operate a hotel chain, a luxury rental villa, a cafe and the Pink Palace, now closed by police
Bali police have closed the Pink Palace ‘sensual spa and relaxation centre’ and covered the sign with a cover over the venue’s neon sign, which features a rooster and the words ‘happy coq, happy life’.
Police have arrested and handcuffed the Le Grands, who are accused of operating the Pink Palace in Badung and a luxury villa that they rent out for $200 a night.
A police spokesperson told the ABC that the Pink Palace would be transferred between $95,000 and $285,000 per year.
Michael Le Grand bowed his head grimly as he and his wife were paraded with their wrists handcuffed behind their backs at Bali police headquarters this weekend.
The Le Grands also operate the Corner House café and a series of pubs, each known as ‘The Goat’, in various famous beach locations in Bali.
Two years ago, one of the Goat Cafes was raided for suspected illegal horse betting, but no charges were filed.
Gambling and prostitution are both illegal in Bali, and traditional social norms in Indonesia do not accept homosexuality or gender transition.
Even in Buddhist Bali, which is more relaxed than the rest of the world’s largest Muslim country, same-sex couples do not qualify for any of the legal protections available to male-female couples.
Last year, Indonesia passed a new criminal code that may violate the rights of LGBT people and others by criminalizing consensual sex outside marriage.
The country does not recognize gay marriage. The new laws also criminalize abortion, increase prison sentences for blasphemy and formalize sharia law that discriminates against women and girls.
The Pink Palace was originally raided on September 11 and operated by advertising “spa packages” on social media and using vans decorated with the venue’s rooster logo to pick up customers.
Dressed in an orange prison shirt with the word ‘Tahanan Polda Bali’, meaning ‘Detainee, Bali Police’, and handcuffed behind her back, Lynley Le Grand is taken into custody at police headquarters
Catering entrepreneurs Michael and Lynley Le Grand were arrested in Bali last Friday after their Pink Palace spa was raided for alleged prostitution. The venue’s neon sign, with the words ‘Happy Coq, Happy Life’, has now been draped by Bali Police
Police claim that guests would be picked up and driven to the venue, where they could choose from a room full of ‘therapists’, who were sex workers.
Customers would be presented with a massage treatment menu including “sensation massage, body-to-body and happy ending” and then, police allege, enter a private room for intercourse.
One of the women working as a therapist during the raid, NSP, was reportedly a minor, aged 17 years and seven months.
Bali police have charged the two Le Grands and four others, including the couple’s operations director, the general manager and two receptionists.
They were charged under Indonesia’s child protection laws, which prohibit sexual and economic exploitation of children, as well as a pornography offense.
They were taken to the Bali Police Detention Center.
At the age of 22, Lynley Le Grand was injured at Paddy’s Bar on Kuta Beach during the 2002 bombings by Islamic militant terrorists. She was flown to Melbourne to recover.
The Le Grands have four children, including an older son who is a DJ in Melbourne.
Mr Le Grand operates popular sports bars open between 9am and 3am, frequented mainly by Australians and other tourists, and broadcasting events such as the AFL and NRL grand finals on large TV screens.
Police closed the venue, barricaded it with crime scene tape and arrested eight people, including Melbourne couple Michael and Lynley Le Grand, who own a hospitality empire in Bali.
Michael Le Grand in one of his Bali Goat pubs, on Legian beach on the paradise island
The Le Grands have listed their Seminyak villa for $200 a night, celebrating the fact that it is heavily booked as Christmas approaches
Police had previously raided The Goat Pub in Seminyak in June 2022 and arrested him and three staff members, seizing cash and other items related to alleged “horse racing” betting.
After a day of interrogation at the Denpasar Police Criminal Investigation Unit, Lynley Le Grand picked up the four who were released without charge.
Anyone caught facilitating gambling in Indonesia could face a prison sentence of up to ten years.
The Le Grands have both lived in Bali for many years. Michael posted a photo of a sunset over Bali’s waterfront on Facebook a year ago with the words: “I think I’ve found my permanent digs (sic).”
Last Friday, police lined up the couple, dressed in orange police shirts, publicly in front of the media, along with eight others arrested at the Pink Palace spa.
Under anti-pornography laws, the Le Grands could face up to 12 years in prison if found guilty.