PHL probing 'exploitation' of undocumented Pinoys in US convenience stores

Philippine authorities are looking into the alleged exploitation of undocumented Filipinos in convenience stores in New York and Virginia.

 

The Philippine Embassy in Washington and the Philippine Consulate General in New York are working with United States authorities on the issue.

 

"(The Philippine) Embassy (is) looking into (the) reported exploitation of undocumented Filipinos in 7-11 stores in New York and Virginia," the embassy said on its Twitter account Tuesday night.

 

The embassy said it will render assistance to any Filipino victimized by the supposed scam - including Ramon Nanas, 49, a Filipino citizen linked to the mess.

 

Nanas, of Great River, New York, was among nine persons indicted by authorities for the case, the embassy said in a news release.

 

The nine were described as owners or managers of at least 14 7-Eleven stores in Long Island and Norfolk. They were indicted for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, stealing identities and concealing and harboring illegal immigrants.

 

The Eastern District Court of New York had said the investigation of the case is still ongoing and may involve other undocumented foreign nationals working in other 7-11 stores in several states.

 

Earlier reports had said the owners and managers of some 7-Eleven convenience stores were charged Monday in a scheme to exploit immigrants from Pakistan and the Philippines.

 

The owners and managers were accused of paying the immigrants using stolen Social Security numbers of a child and three dead people.

 

They were also accused of stealing most of the immigrants' wages.

 

Assistance to exploited Pinoys

 

The embassy said Labor Attache Luzviminda Padilla and Consul General Mario de Leon have contacted the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office and the Eastern District Court of New York "to inquire on the status of the case."

 

“We also want to check the condition of the Filipino nationals involved in order to determine the kind of assistance that could be extended to them,” Philippine Ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr. said from Jamaica.

 

Cuisia is in Jamaica to present his credentials as Manila’s non-resident ambassador there.

 

Cuisia said US authorities have not released the names of more than 50 employees of various 7-Eleven stores in New York and Virginia, who the embassy news release said "included a still undetermined number of Filipinos."

 

Employees not 'arrested'

 

De Leon said US authorities have clarified the employees have not been arrested, detained or charged for any offense and are considered victim of exploitation.

 

"They will serve as witnesses and will appear in a hearing scheduled on July 18 at the Eastern District Court of New York," the embassy said.

 

According to Consul General De Leon, the US Department of Justice said the employees were exploited, their wages stolen and were required to live in unregulated boarding houses.  

 

Franchise rights forefeited Reuters reported on Tuesday that Federal authorities moved to forfeit the franchise rights to 14 of the convenience stores and seize five houses in New York worth more than $1.3 million, making the case the largest criminal immigration forfeiture in Department of Homeland Security history, according to federal and state officials.

 

The eight men and one woman charged in the scheme ran 7-Elevens in New York and Virginia, according to two indictments unsealed on Monday.

 

"These defendants ruthlessly exploited their immigrant employees, stealing their wages and requiring them to live in unregulated boarding houses, in effect creating a modern day plantation system," said Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a statement released with Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration as well as state and local police.

 

More than 50 illegal immigrants were overworked and cheated out of their wages, the authorities said. Because they were illegally in the country, the victims may have been afraid to report possible wrongdoing, they added.

 

The immigrants were given identities stolen from more than 25 people, including dead people and children, they said. The scheme was concealed from 7-Eleven headquarters, they said.

 

In a separate statement, 7-Eleven, which is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd of Japan, said it was cooperating with the investigation and would have no further comment for now.

 

The scheme generated millions of dollars in profits, said Joseph D'Amico, Superintendent of the New York State Police which also worked on the case.

 

The victims were made to live in housing owned by the accused, leaving them "completely beholden" to their employers, he added.

 

The case may spread beyond Virginia and New York, as federal agents on Monday executed search warrants at about 30 other 7-Elevens around the country, and the investigation is ongoing, authorities said.

 

The nine defendants were charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud, stealing identities and concealing and harboring illegal immigrants.

 

If convicted, they could face 20 years apiece in prison on wire fraud conspiracy and alien harboring charges. The multiple counts of aggravated identity theft carry mandatory, consecutive two-year prison terms. - with a report from Reuters, VVP, GMA News