Labor Exploitation

According to the HSI-led investigation, Ana Patricia Landaverde, 47, a citizen of El Salvador; Jeffrey Dean Vaughan, 64, of Williamsburg; George William Evans, 68, of Midlothian; and Salvador Jeronimo-Sis, a citizen of Guatemala, engaged in a conspiracy to harbor, transport and benefit from employing undocumented noncitizens at their commercial laundry business, Northstar Holdings of Virginia, LLC, d/b/a Magnolia Cleaning Services, LLC.

DHS and ICE announced today that employers will have 30 days to reach compliance with Form I-9 requirements after the COVID-19 flexibilities sunset on July 31, 2023.

Eduardo Javier Gomez, 32, and Margarita Alvarez, 40, a former couple from Edinburg, pleaded guilty in federal court to benefiting from forced labor following an HSI investigation.

According to the HSI Norfolk investigation, George William Evans, 68, participated in a conspiracy to harbor, transport, and benefit from the employment of undocumented noncitizens at the commercial laundry business he co-owned.

According to the investigation, Ana Patricia Landaverde, 47, of Williamsburg, Virginia; Jeffrey Dean Vaughan, 64, of Williamsburg, Virginia; and George William Evans, 68, of Midlothian, Virginia engaged in a conspiracy to harbor, transport and benefit from employing undocumented noncitizens at their commercial laundry business, Northstar Holdings of Virginia, LLC, d/b/a Magnolia Cleaning Services, LLC.

Transmountain Corral LLC, DBA Golden Corral, is an American restaurant chain that offers an all-you-can-eat buffet and grill. It is a privately held company headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, with locations in 43 U.S. states. The Transmountain location employs 56 workers. Established in 1996, ACG has been in business for over 24 years. A minority owned business. ACG manages large-scale and small-scale projects from construction and security cameras to IT engineering and audio visual services. Its customers include the Department of the Interior, Department of Defense, German Air Force, NASA, as well as multiple school districts. It has 27 employees.

After four hours of jury deliberation, Yun Zheng, aka Wendy, 50, and Yan Qui Wu, aka Jason, 48, were found guilty of four counts of concealing, harboring, or shielding a person, whom they knew to be undocumented residents of the United States, for commercial advantage and private financial gain.

This extension will continue to apply the guidance previously issued for employees hired on or after April 1, 2021, and work exclusively in a remote setting due to COVID-19-related precautions.

To align worksite investigation with ICE’s victim-centered approach to investigations, HSI has shifted to its posture to a new model focused on unscrupulous employers who exploit noncitizens, based on their lack of lawful immigration status, through dangerous work conditions, underpayment, and using those noncitizens as a “business model” to maximize profits.

Quanwei Shi, 31, was sentenced for conspiracy to harbor undocumented residents; harboring undocumented residents; money laundering; tax evasion; and employment tax fraud. Shi and restaurant co-owner Chongqiang Chen, 30, also of Clarksville, were both arrested in April 2020, after a 14-count federal indictment charged them in a scheme to harbor undocumented workers and to defeat the tax laws of the United States. Shi pleaded guilty in March.