Restaurant operators charged with hiring illegals

The two-count complaint, filed Sept. 5, alleges Miao De Zhang and Ai Hui Chen this year hired restaurant workers they knew were illegal. It also alleges they harbored the illegal immigrants in Springfield apartments, at the restaurant and in vehicles transporting the employees to and from work.

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, one of the operators on Aug. 24 picked up nine employees from two apartments that were rented by the operators. Law enforcement officers detained six of those employees ¬– one illegal immigrant from the People’s Republic of China and five Mexican nationals in the United States illegally, according to the affidavit.

Federal agents interviewed the detained workers and found some of them were hired without any paperwork and were being paid in cash. Some workers said they were picked up in a van every morning and said they worked between 10 and 13 hours a day and between six and seven days a week, according to the affidavit.

None of the apprehended workers appear on the restaurant’s employee roster and no Employment Eligibility Verification Forms were received for them in response to a subpoena, the affidavit states.

The restaurant operators were arrested, appeared in court and were released on bond. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas C. Bunch and was investigated by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.