Two Florida men were indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly harboring illegal workers for their labor leasing businesses in Branson.
Martin Ghambaryan, 29, and Mikayel Abrahamyan, 34, who are Armenian nationals and legal U.S. citizens residing in Delray Beach, Fla., allowed others to assert de facto control over their businesses, operating them as labor leasing companies supplying workers to Branson-area businesses, including hotels, restaurants, golf courses and entertainment venues. Ghambaryan, who incorporated janitorial service MGM Union LLC, and Abrahamyan, who created Seasonal Labor Solutions LLC, allegedly aided the de facto operators in harboring illegal workers and concealing them from detection, according to a news release from the office of Tammy Dickinson, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Missouri.
The MGM Union operators - who were not named in the release - applied for
H-2B visas, which allow employers to bring foreign nationals to the U.S. for temporary nonagricultural jobs. The application was denied, and Seasonal Labor Solutions never sought authorization, according to the indictment.
The indictment alleges both companies routinely employed illegal workers despite lack of necessary documentation. The operators also are accused of hiring people who were not legally entitled to be in the U.S., according to the release.
MGM Union and Seasonal Labor Solutions workers - whether they were documented or not - were allegedly required to pay rent to the operators for living spaces in hotels and apartments. The workers also were dependent on the operators for transportation to and from job sites.
According to the release, workers would allegedly often end up owing large debts to the operators. Debts were deducted from paychecks, leaving them with minimal take-home pay, according to the indictment.
Further, the operators allegedly allowed workers to remain on the payroll following the expiration of their temporary work visas, collected fees with the false promise of obtaining extensions, and threatened the workers with deportation as a way to keep them working, according to the release.[[In-content Ad]]
