Palmetto, Georgia, United States
In August 2004, the three owners were arrested for conspiracy, fraud, harboring aliens, and other crimes. The three were not originally indicted with the August 2004 charges because a violation in the trafficking act came into play. In November 2005 DuPreez pleaded guilty to the charges of conspiracy and harboring aliens and faced a maximum of fifteen years at the time of sentencing in March 2006, but has since become a fugitive. Also Johannes DuPreez was ordered to pay $363,579.40 restitution to the IRS and an additional $50,000 fine. Franciszka DuPreez was ordered to pay $182,036 to the IRS. Another defendant was sentenced to eight months home confinement and fined $2,000.
Location
United States · Palmetto, Georgia · 2004 (location generalized to protect survivors)
Response & intervention
The IRS investigated the profits made by DuPreez's Newton Granite & Marble company and after three years realized that this was a human trafficking case. DuPreez gave the United States false documentation for the workers to be in the U.S.
A three year federal investigation led by the IRS ultimately revealed that Johannes Du Preez, his wife Franciszka, and his associate Stanley Fur were bringing illegal immigrants from South Africa into Georgia and giving the U.S. government fake immigration papers for the workers. From there it was revealed that the workers were being worked hard jobs with little pay and forced to live in expensive apartments owned by DuPreez while he threatened the workers with deportation. This now put the case in the trafficking section.
Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don't have a verifiable source on file yet — use “Report a problem” below to add one.