The data
Every case on SlaveryMap, drawn from public sources and shown with its location deliberately generalized to protect survivors.
631 of 1,631 cite a source · Updated
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United States US
According to a federal indictment, a mother and daughter in Carolina, Puerto Rico, used beatings, threats, restraint and isolation to force an intellectually disabled woman to panhandle, commit fraud and do domestic labor in their home, at times locking her overnight in a space formerly used to house goats and roosters, and took her Social Security disability benefits.
United States US
On August 22, 2011 Cherry Valera, 44, and Bernard Salvatierra, 46, a married couple from Bellingham, Washington were sentenced by U.S. District Judge James L. Robart in connection with their May 10, 2011 guilty pleas. Valera pleaded guilty to harboring an alien for financial gain and Salvatierra pleaded guilty to unlawful employment of an alien. Valera was sentenced to four months in prison and 100 hours of community service during two years of supervised release. Salvatierra was sentenced to 6 months of home detention with electronic monitoring. According to court filings, Valera recruited an impoverished, young woman from the Philippines to be her family’s live-in domestic servant. Valera and Salvatierra employed the victim from August 2006 until September 2009, when she escaped. During her employment, the victim was required to work seven days a week, providing full-time childcare, cleaning, cooking and other domestic services. The victim endured verbal abuse and threats during her stay with the defendants, who paid the victim $200 to $240 per month.
United States US
Cardiologist Javier Julio Arce, M.D. 58, and his ex-wife, Cristina Mier Arce, 55, were charged with harboring a Bolivian undocumented worker — their maid — for 15 years as a virtual prisoner and using her for their financial gain. On June 23, 2011 a grand jury alleged that they kept the woman in their service as a domestic by telling her she would be arrested and deported if she left their home. They allegedly told her falsely that they were depositing money in a bank account in her name when they knew no such account existed. And after promising the woman — identified only as “I. L.” — a monthly salary, they paid her paid her no more than $20,000 over 12 years as she cared for their children, made their meals and cleaned their home and Dr. Arce’s medical office. The indictment also charges that Cristina Arce refused to return the woman’s passport, despite “repeated requests”, falsely telling her it was lost. The indictment said the Arces recruited “I. L.” to travel to the United States and conspired to harbor and exploit her from 1994 to 2006 at the home they shared at 718 Freeman Lane in Elizabethtown. It says that after the couple divorced, Dr. Arce harbored the woman for financial gain from 2006 to 2009 at his residence at 2605 Stonemill Drive in Elizabethtown.
United States US
Juna Gwedolyn Babb, 56, and Michael J. Babb, 55, both of Ellenwood, Ga., pleaded guilty in federal court to felony offenses related to a scheme to compel the labor of a young woman from the Kingdom of Swaziland in southern Africa, announced the Department of Justice. “Schemes like this one target the most vulnerable in our society,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The department is committed to prosecuting individuals who engage in acts that exploit individuals who wish to work in our country.” “This case reminds us that modern day slavery is occurring in our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “This young woman believed that she was only traveling to the United States for a brief visit to help with a wedding. Instead, she was compelled to labor for the defendants for more than two years. It is especially disturbing that the victim was exploited by a minister and his wife.” According to the indictment and information presented in court, in or about March 2005, Juna Babb, while visiting the Kingdom of Swaziland, invited the victim, then a 29 year-old cook, to travel to the United States to cater for a family wedding. In fact, there was no wedding, and Juna Babb instead intended to harbor the woman in the United States and compel her to work as a housekeeper in her home for little or no pay. Subsequently, upon the victim’s arrival at the defendant’s home in Ellenwood, Juna Babb concealed her from detection by law enforcement while compelling her housekeeping services from in or about June 2005, through in or about February 2007. During this time, Juna Babb also threatened the victim over the debt she owed for her travel to the United States, and with arrest and deportation because she was in the United States illegally. Michael Babb, a minister, knew of his wife’s harboring of the victim, as well as the fact that Juna Babb was compelling the victim’s labor. However, Michael Babb failed to notify an authority of the United States as soon as possible of the alien harboring, and affirmatively concealed his wife’s crime by denying that the victim worked as the defendants’ housekeeper to special agents of the FBI. Juna Babb pleaded guilty to the offense of harboring an alien for financial gain, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Michael Babb pleaded guilty to the offense of misprision of a felony for concealing his wife’s criminal conduct and for lying to federal agents. This offense carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison.
United States US
Elina Sihombing Age: 47 Recruiting, harboring and transporting individuals for the purpose of forced labor, and removing or confiscating the victims' immigration documents David Girle Age: 54 Both of them are owners of America's Best Value Inn on Picacho Avenue in Las Cruces, NM. The couple was charged with "obtaining the labor and services of two Indonesian women by force, threats of force and physical restraint" according to a criminal complaint by the U.S. Department of Justice. According to the criminal complaint, in 2004, Sihombing and Girle allegedly brought the first of their two alleged victims from Indonesia to Phoenix, Ariz., where they were then living, as a nanny for their toddler and with the understanding that the alleged victim would have the opportunity to obtain an education and prepare for a career. Instead, the victim allegedly was forced to work as a nanny and household help and assisted with remodeling of the couple's residence from 8 a.m. to midnight every day, but was never paid for her work and was never given an opportunity to attend college as she was promised. The complaint alleges that, in 2005, Sihombing and Girle brought another woman to Phoenix from Indonesia who did the same type of work for the couple without any pay. The complaint further alleges that on July 27, 2007, Sihombing and Girle moved to Las Cruces where they purchased America's Best Value Inn and lived on the motel grounds. Sihombing and Girle allegedly told the two victims that, after the motel was remodeled and sold, they would be paid for their labor, according to the complaint. Sihombing and Girle allegedly required their victims to work from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day with no days off. The victims were not allowed to leave the motel and were only allowed access to their families in Indonesia if the contact was monitored by the couple, the complaint alleges. In 2009, the victims allegedly asked Girle about their immigration documents, and he told them he had them for safekeeping. Girle also advised them that their visas had expired. Sihombing allegedly withheld food from the victims as punishment and also threatened to call immigration authorities if the two did not do as Sihombing demanded. The complaint alleges that this type of treatment continued until Jan. 4, 2010, when the two victims left the motel.
United States US
Edk Kenit, 29, and Choimina Lukas, 31, a Micronesian couple living in Longview pleaded guilty Tuesday in a human trafficking case in which they were accused of forcing an 18-year-old woman from their homeland to work for them. Kenit and Lukas admitted in federal court in the Western District of Washington that in March 2010 they recruited the victim, identified in court documents as "S.S.," to care for their three children and do cooking and cleaning seven days a week without pay. Kenit, Lukas and S.S. all are from the Chuuk island group in the Micronesian archipelago in the South Pacific. Culturally, S.S. felt bound to obey her elders, who threatened to harm her if she disobeyed, according to court documents. Longview Police Detective Steve Dennis, the initial investigator on the case, said their families apparently knew one another, so Kenit and Lukas "made arrangements to fly her here. They promised her wealth and everything that comes with America." Once S.S. got to the U.S., Kenit and Lukas forced “S.S.” to care for their children without pay, Dennis said. Kenit and Lukas fed the victim and allowed her to live in their duplex apartment at 2008 46th Ave. But in July 2010 they forced her to take a job at Foster Farms and seized her pay until she finally quit the job in October, Dennis said. When she began objecting to her treatment, they hid her passport. Micronesians need only a passport but no visas to enter the United States, Dennis said. So the woman was living and working here legally. However, stripped of her paperwork and unable to speak English, she was left in a frightening situation, Dennis said.
United States US
Hsien-Hsien “Jacqueline” Liu, 64, of Taiwan, residing in Overland Park, Kan., waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty on November 18, 2011 before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to the charge of fraud in foreign labor contracting for fraudulently obtaining two Filipino servants for her residence. By pleading guilty, Liu admitted that she fraudulently entered into employment contracts with two Filipino housekeepers, whom Liu then brought to the United States to work for her on B-1 visas. Liu paid them significantly less than the contractual amount and forced them to work excessive hours. In November 2010, Liu recruited and solicited a female citizen of Manila, Phillippines (identified in the plea agreement as Female Victim #1) to come to the United States to work as a housekeeper for her residence. Liu sent a signed contract via both Federal Express and fax from Kansas City, Mo., to Manila, which contained fraudulent terms of employment. The employment contract, which was used to obtain a B-1 visa for the victim, required that she be paid $1,240 per month to work 40 hours a week, eight hours a day. It only required her to be present in the residence during work hours. Liu admitted that she did not intend to comply with these terms. From March 6, 2011 to August 2011, contrary to the terms of the contract, Liu only paid the victim $450 a month, increased her work hours to 16-18 hours per day, and required that she work on the weekends and holidays. Liu had surveillance cameras installed inside the residence to monitor the victim and did not allow her to leave the residence without supervision or permission. The government’s investigation uncovered evidence that Liu had earlier engaged in the same conduct with another employee. Although the original federal criminal complaint charged Liu with conduct related to Female Victim #1, the affidavit filed in support of that complaint referred to a second victim. As part of the plea agreement, Liu is required to accept responsibility for the prior victim (identified in the plea agreement as Female Victim #2), also a woman from the Philippines, whom Liu employed in 2009-2010. Liu is the Director General of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office located in Kansas City, Mo. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) is one of 13 offices responsible for maintaining close unofficial relations between the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan. They are generally the equivalent of a consulate of a foreign government, but the United States does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state.
United States US
Deputy Sheriff Alfredo Navarrette ICE Trained Navarette admitted to passing information about the sheriff's crime-prevention operations to the group, Arpaio said. The deputy also was accused of being part of a separate human trafficking ring that smuggled illegal immigrants from Arizona to California. Navarette, who was once assigned to sheriff's human smuggling unit and was cross-trained as a federal immigration agent, regularly smuggled loads of illegal immigrants, Arpaio said. Detention Officer Sylvia Najera ICE Trained Detention Officer Marcella Hernandez ICE Trained All three officers were ICE trained. They are accused of tipping off drug traffickers and human smugglers about ongoing investigations. Hernandez allegedly had an ongoing personal relationship with a major drug kingpin and was 8-months pregnant with his child. According to court documents, she arranged the transfer of multiple heroin loads and allowed her boyfriend's drug trafficking organization to use her two houses as stash houses. Najera also allegedly had ties to a big drug trafficking ring. Perhaps the most shocking revelation is that Navarrette used to work in the anti-human smuggling unit for a short time, and when officers raided his house, they found two illegal immigrants being housed inside. According to court documents, 37-year-old Navarrette was a member of the drug trafficking organization and drove load vehicles, laundered money, and transported illegal immigrants from Arizona to California, among many other duties.
United States US
A couple lured a Brazilian woman (who the wife knew as the victim was a childhood friend) to the U.S. by offering her free lodging at their home and work as the family’s housekeeper and nanny for $1,500 a month with the promise of pursuing a nursing degree and a better life for her and her son. However, once the victim began working, her traffickers took her passport from her, withheld pay and food, was physically attacked by the wife, and was sexually molested by the husband. The traffickers claimed to have immunity and therefore any accusation made by the victim against them would be fruitless.
United States US
According to a recent federal indictment, Alfred Edwards, 73, and Gloria Edwards, 60, both of Upper Marlboro, Md.,forced a Filipina woman to work for them, threatening and assaulting her. The couple enticed the victim to come to the United States to work as their domestic servant, according to the five-count indictment. The woman was an impoverished, uneducated, mother of eight, officials stated. The defendants promised her a salary that would support her children in the Philippines. According to the indictment, the defendants gained a false visa for the woman, and confiscated her documents after she arrived. They forced her to work for 13 hours a day for ten years, using a scheme of threats, assaults, withholding of documents, withholding of pay, and a peonage contract to coerce the victim’s continued service.
United States US
From DOJ Press Release - Feb 2, 2010 ====================== Arlington, Texas, Couple Convicted of Forced Labor and Other Crimes for Holding Nigerian Woman in Domestic Servitude . http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/February/10-crt-118.html . A federal jury has convicted an Arlington, Texas, husband and wife, Emmanuel and Ngozi Nnaji, of engaging in a nine-year scheme to compel the labor of a Nigerian victim as their domestic servant, the Justice Department announced. . According to the evidence at trial, Emmanuel Nnaji and Ngozi Nnaji enticed a widowed Nigerian mother of six to come to the United States to be their domestic servant by falsely promising a salary and support for her children, who she was struggling to support. . The defendants procured fraudulent immigration documents, confiscated the victim's documents, harbored her in their home, compelled her to work long hours with no days off for little or no pay, used a scheme to isolate her and restrict her communications, withheld her documents and pay, and refused her requests to return home or be paid. The defendants also failed to provide support for the victim's six children in Nigeria, limited and monitored contact with her family in Nigeria, isolated her from normal society in the United States, and refused to allow her to regularly attend church. According to the evidence at trial, Emmanuel Nnaji sexually assaulted the victim and made her fearful to call the police.
United States US
Trafficker, 68 from Tanzania. Recruited Victim for domestic servitude. Promised £21 per month for her daughters college fees and £10 per month pocket money. However, confiscated victims documents and made her work from 6.00 am until 12.00 am every day.
United States US
FBI intervened and arrested the traffickers. http://www.keyt.com/news/local/89520292.html http://www.kionrightnow.com/global/story.asp?s=12227258 http://920kvec.com/FBI-Arrests-Paso-Robles-Couple-Suspected-Of-Human-/6700143
United States US
Fang Ping Ding, 62; Wei Wei Liang, 36; and Bo Shen, 43 recruited a woman from China in December of 2007. They brought her to the U.S. to live in Ding's home and be a nanny and house-cleaner. Upon her arrival at the home, the Chinese woman's passport, identification papers and documents, and visa were taken from her. She proceeded to work in the home which included cleaning, cooking, and providing childcare services. During the work that was forced upon her, she was physically abused and received no pay. The victim escaped in April 2009 and contacted authorities with the help of a passerby. Ding was sentenced to 37 months in prison on a human-trafficking charge for forcing this woman to work as an unpaid live-in domestic servant and for confiscating the woman's visa, passport, and other documents. Liang was sentenced to home confinement. Shen was sentenced to probation on related immigration charges of harboring the victim. The defendants must also jointly pay the woman $83,867.
United States US
Bidemi Bello, a 41 year old citizen of Nigeria, separately recruited two young women from Nigeria and brought them her home in Suwanee to work as her nanny with the promise of putting them through school. Instead, she forced them to work as her unpaid servants, forcing them to chores by hand, despite having modern appliances. She would make them do things such as cutting the lawn using a knife, and regularly beat them. The young women said Bello beat them with a large wooden spoon, shoes, electric cords and with her hands. Despite living in an upscale home that had multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, Bello made the young women sleep on the floor or a couch. She also would not let them use the shower, but instead required them to bathe with water from a bucket.
United States US
Below is a link and the text of a news article reporting the indictment: http://cbs2.com/national/slave.domestic.servitude.2.1364018.html Dec 11, 2009 7:00 am US/Pacific Texas Couple Accused Of Keeping Mother As Slave Husband, Wife Allegedly Kept Woman In Servitude 9 Years; Also Accused Of Sexual Assault FORT WORTH (CBS) ― [Click to zoom.] Click to enlarge 1 of 1 CBS Close numSlides of totalImages Related Slideshows News Year In Review 2009 Related Stories * Archaeologists Find Remains of 1841 Slave Ship (11/25/2008) * Prosecutors: Afghan Girl Kept As Slave In Seattle (10/17/2008) * Fla. Woman Gets Jail In Teen Slave Case (5/20/2008) Related Links * KTVT-TV Local Coverage A federal grand jury has formally accused an Arlington couple of keeping a widowed, Nigerian mother of six in domestic servitude, or in essence holding her as their slave. According to the Justice Department, husband and wife, Emmanuel and Ngozi Nnaji, held the woman for nine years. Officials believe the Nnajis promised the woman that she would be paid, and there would be support for her children, if she came to work for them as a domestic servant, reports CBS station KTVT-TV in Dallas. The abuse allegedly happened while the couple lived at a house in the 1500 block of Green Hill Drive, in Arlington. KTVT went there and tried to speak to a woman who came out of the house, but she had nothing to say. We're told the victim no longer lives at the house. Part of the seven-count indictment alleges that the couple used unscrupulous means to get fraudulent immigration documents, confiscated the victim's official documents, secretly kept her in their home and forced her to work long hours with no days off for little or no pay. Emmanuel Nnaji is also accused of sexually assaulting the victim and threatening the woman if she called police. Ngozi Nnaji is a Nigerian national. Click here to read the entire U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas criminal complaint against Emmanuel and Ngozi Nnaji. Officials claim the couple kept the woman isolated from the outside world and refused her requests to be returned home or be paid for her services. Along with not paying the victim, the couple also allegedly failed to provide support for the victim's children back in Nigeria. Contact with her Nigerian family was also monitored and she was prevented from attending church regularly. The couple, who have been charged with conspiracy, forced labor, document servitude, alien harboring and false statements, was arrested on September 30. Both Ngozi and Emmanuel Nnaji face up to 55 years in prison, if convicted. Since Ngozi Nnaji is not a U.S. citizen, if she is convicted she also faces deportation. KTVT spoke to Ngozi Nnaji's attorney who said his client will plead not guilty and that they plan to challenge the charges. The case is being investigated by the FBI. (© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
United States US
DOJ Press Release - 12/9/09 ================= Minister and Wife Charged with Human Trafficking and Immigration Violations for Exploiting Woman from Swaziland Defendant Allegedly Enticed Victim to Travel to the U.S. from Africa Intending to Force the Victim to Work as Their Housekeeper and Nanny . http://atlanta.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/at120909.htm . ATLANTA Between about March 2005, and continuing until on or about February 7, 2007, JUNA GWENDOLYN BABB and MICHAEL J. BABB allegedly conspired to compel the labor of the victim by enticing her to come to the United States from the Kingdom of Swaziland, Africa, by falsely promising her a lucrative, short-term opportunity to provide catering services at the wedding of a family member of the BABBs. However, upon the victim’s arrival to the United States, the couple allegedly conspired to, and did harbor her for the purpose of obtaining and maintaining her labor as a housekeeper and nanny in their home through the use of debt and threats of arrest and imprisonment. . Specifically, after the victim's arrival in the United States, the defendants confiscated her passport and return airline ticket, and told the victim that she owed them a debt for the costs of her travel to the United States. The BABBs allegedly then compelled the victim's labor by using the debt that they claimed the victim owed them, and by threatening her with arrest and imprisonment by immigration authorities once her tourist visa expired. The couple then allegedly required the victim to clean the homes of their friends and associates, and to assist with MICHAEL BABB's construction business. The indictment also alleges that the defendants required the victim to work long hours every day of the week, for which the victim was grossly underpaid on those few occasions that the BABBs paid her at all for her labor and services.
United States US
Wealthy long Island couple who enslaved two Indonesians. Would beat them with brooms, slash them with knives and make them sleep in the kitchen on mats. actual article: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,381243,00.html
United States US
Mercedes Farquharson 63, of Union county, considered her self a deity. She convinced a mother she was a religiuos deity and to give her the mother's children.
United States US
Abrorkhodja Askarkhodjaev, 30, Nodir Yunusov, 22, Rustamjon Shukurov, 21, citizens of Uzbekistan living in Mission; Ilkham Fazilov, 44, Nodirbek Abdoollayev, 27, citizens of Uzbekistan living in Kansas City; Viorel Simon, 27, Alexandru Frumasache , 23, citizens of Moldova living in Kansas City, Kan.; Kristin Dougherty, 49, of Ellisville, Mo.; Andrew Cole, 53, of St. Charles, Mo.; Abdukakhar Azizkhodjaev, 49, a citizen of Uzbekistan living in Panama City, Fla.; and Sandjar Agzamov, 27, and Jakhongir Kakhkharov, 29, citizens of Uzbekistan who recently left the United States
United States US
Cook County Sheriff's Police Department arrested both individuals on Nov. 5, 2008.
United States US
Prosecutors say Lubis threatened the women and their families with violence if they disobeyed him, and held their passports so they couldn't flee. The list of Lubis' 50 clients divulged in court filings by federal prosecutors includes a high-profile Washington attorney, multiple doctors -- among them a high-ranking doctor at a Maryland hospital -- and an engineer who invented an electric backup system for houses that use well water. No charges have been filed against the people who employed the women, and The Examiner has chosen not to release their names. But prosecutors had tough words for the wealthy area homeowners who used the slave labor. "The various employers are also participants" in Lubis' scheme, prosecutors wrote. "They knew or were willfully blind to the fact that the victims were illegal aliens and that Lubis harbored them." Lubis' actions amount to what human trafficking experts call modern-day slavery. "Traffickers take advantage of desperation," said Mark Lagon, director of the Polaris Project and former head of the State Department's human trafficking office. "They take advantage of people in such flagrant ways that it's slavery." Andrea Powell, director of Fair Fund, an advocacy group for human trafficking victims, said, "People are so desperate to come to the U.S. that they are willing to put up with all kinds of abuse, including slavery."
United States US
Angela Galeana de Maddox (34 years old) and her husband, Robert Doyle Maddox (55 years old), brought a 12 year old girl back from Mexico to work as a domestic servant. They bought the girl from her mother for $10 and made promises to send $50 a month. Galeana reportedly beat the girl several times. On one occasion she also tried to make the girl ingest water from a toilet. They plead guilty to charges of forced child labor. Galeana received 7 years imprisonment. Maddox received 2 years 9 months. They were also ordered to pay back wages.
United States US
Yes. He was employing workers and forcing them to work 14 hour shifts with little pay. Victim was lured by the lie that heéshe would be able to keep her passport and A minimum wage was given to the victim and limited work of 8 hours a day. When caught, Mohammed Abdulazz Al-Zehairi is forced to pay the victim $143,532.20. It does not mention if the victim was deported or not.