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US Immigration
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Posted 04/28/2010 |
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(Page 1 of 4) |
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U.S. charges couple in scheme to hold Filipino workers in
forced labor
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MIAMI, April 28, 2010 - Sophia Manuel and
Alfonso Baldonado Jr. were arrested Wednesday
morning on charges arising from a human
trafficking scheme to hold Filipino nationals in
forced labor at various southeast Florida
country clubs and hotels following a U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-led
investigation.
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Manuel, 41, and Baldonado, 46, owners of Quality
Staffing Services Corporation of Boca Raton,
Fla., were indicted by a federal grand jury in
the Southern District of Florida. According to
the indictment, Manuel and Baldonado conspired
to obtain a cheap, compliant and readily
available labor pool. The indictment details the
defendants conspired to hold the workers in
their continued service, for little or no pay,
and housed them in substandard conditions
without adequate food or drinking water.
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From July 2006 through June 2008, the indictment alleged, the defendants
and others held the Filipino workers in a condition of forced labor.
That the defendants had no work or infrequent work for many of the
Filipino workers making it impossible to repay their debts in the
Philippines. That when told by the Filipino workers that their earnings
were not enough to repay their debts in the Philippines, defendants
responded that was not their problem.
From about November 2007 through December 2007 the charges alleges that
defendants directed about 30 Filipino workers to sleep on the floor at
their residence in the living room, dining room, kitchen, and garage
until housing was located, men and women, side by side. From November
2007 through February 2008, the defendants allegedly forbade the
Filipino workers to open the refrigerator except when tasked to cook;
screamed at and scolded workers if they ate food from the refrigerator
without permission. That defendants threatened Filipino workers at
meetings that if the Filipino workers left the house, they will call the
police or USCIS and the workers would be deported.
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