Couple Arrested, Accused In Case Of Modern Slavery

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Updated: 9:13 AM May 15, 2008 Couple Arrested, Accused In Case Of Modern Slavery A husband and wife, owners of a sushi restaurant in Denver, are accused of allegedly treating two their workers as indentured servants and withholding over $100,000 in wages. The couple was arrested Tuesday by the FBI. Posted: 7:32 AM May 14, 2008 Reporter: Associated Press

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The husband and wife owners of a sushi restaurant are accused of allegedly treating two their workers as indentured servants and withholding over $100,000 in wages.

Forty-three-year-old Young Jo Kwon and his 41-year-old wife, Jessie, were arrested Tuesday and charged with five counts of theft and forging of tax and labor documents.

They've posted bond and the law firm representing them declined to comment on the charges.

The couple now owns a sushi restaurant in Greenwood Village but used to own another one in Denver. While at the Denver restaurant, they're accused of forcing two Korean immigrants to work without pay by threatening to have their families deported.

One worker was allegedly forced to work about 30 hours of overtime per week without pay. Also, federal and state records show no record of any payments to the second worker. He said he was hired as a sushi chef but told investigators he was on call to do construction and maintenance work for the couple.

Latest Comments

Posted by: Jennifer Location: CSpgs on May 14, 2008 at 10:20 PM

Nice grammar and punctuation AP. Of course, I wouldn't expect a KKTV reporter to proofread it and clean it up.

Posted by: usa Location: seattle on May 14, 2008 at 10:33 AM

Please spread this news worledwide. Although this type of incident is not new it is a good reminder to those who take advantage of immigrants with or without legal status in the United States. It is an unfortunate situation. Wish the best for the victims and their family members.

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