CSEC2009
United States US
A state grand jury has indicted 15 illegal immigrants on suspicion of operating a prostitution ring that dates back to at least 2006. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers told 7NEWS that the group operated 11 brothels in Denver, Longmont and Glenwood Springs. Suthers said the brothels operated under the name Mi Casa Su Casa and were headed by Sonia Montoya-Cadena. At each location, the indictment said, the brothels would collect $40 to $50 from each patron for 15 minutes of sex. The house would split the money with the prostitutes. After the patrons paid for sex, they would receive a glass bead or other object to give the prostitutes to show they had paid, the indictment alleged.
Domestic Servitude2008
United States US
Sarah Khonaizan and Homaidan Al-Turki brought the victim from Indonesia to cook, clean, and care for the couple's children in their home, and paid her less than $2 for her work. Al-Turki also sexually assaulted the victim. She was forced to sleep on a mattress in the basement. The victim worked seven days a week from 2000 to 2004. Al-Turki told her she would be arrested by immigration officials if she tried to leave the home. The victim was recruited to work for Khonaizan through an employment agency in Saudi Arabia in 1999. Khonaizan and her children left Saudi Arabia three months later, leaving the victim to work in relatives' homes for the next, until she joined the family again in Colorado.
Forced Labor2008
United States US
Two people have been arrested for allegedly withholding pay from two of their employees and threatening them with deportation. The FBI took Young Jo Kwon and his wife, Jessie Kwon, into custody Tuesday and charged them with five counts of theft and forgery. The Kwons are accused of forcing two South Korean immigrant employees to work without pay while they were the owners of Osaka Sushi in Denver. They allegedly threatened two of their employees with the revocation of their "sponsorship," which the Kwons claimed would result in the deportation of the employees' families. One of the informed the FBI that Young Jo Kwon claimed ties to the Korean mafia, and Kwon allegedly told Choi "he knew how to hurt someone who did not obey."