Mission,Kansas, United States
Abrorkhodja Askarkhodjaev, 30, a citizen of Uzbekistan living ina suburb of Kansas City is the alleged ringleader of a group of twelve who ensnared hundreds of illegal immigrants into labor trafficking in hotels, construction sites and other businesses, many of them in Kansas City and Branson. The conspiracy involved fraudulent labor leasing contracts in Missouri, Kansas, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New jersey, South Carolina and Wyoming. The criminal enterprise lured victims to the US under the guise of legitimate jobs and a better life, only to treat them as slaves under the threat of deportation. A US Attornet for Western Missouri said that the traffickers used false information to obtain false work visas for the foreign workers. Askarkhodjaev purportedly used Kansas City labor leasing company Giant Labor Solutions and other companies to obtain labor leasing contracts from clients in 14 states. Clients were told that all immigration and labor laws would be followed. The employees were alledgedly required to pay exorbitant rent to live in barely furnished apartments that "ensured the workers did not make enough money to repay their debt, buy a plane ticket home or pay their own living expenses in the US." The workers also had to pay for transportation to their jobs, uniform fees and other fees that often left them with paychecks that had negative earnings. They were threatened with physical harm, deportation or other legal problems if they did not comply. They also were not allowed to receive mail. Others indicted were: Nodir Yunuskov, 22, Rustamjon Shukurove, 21, Ilkham Fazilov, 44, Nodirbek Abdoollayev, 27, Alexandru Frumasache, 23, Viorel Simon, 27, Kristen Doughterty, 49, Andrew Cole, 53, Abdukakhar Azizkhodjaev, 49, Sandjar Agzamov, 27 and Jakhongir Kakhkharov, 29.