FORCED LABOR
Two-year investigation results in charges for human trafficking, prostitution and financial crimes
Three people were arrested this week when officials concluded a two-year investigation regarding money laundering, tax evasion, prostitution and human trafficking.
On Thursday, cops raided a restaurant, a spa and five residential properties in Lawrence, as well as a restaurant in Yardley, Pennsylvania.
“This is a classic case of people being isolated, exploited and trapped in a forced-labor situation,” Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri said in a written statement.
According to law enforcement officials, the investigation began in September 2016 when cops received a tip about many people living in a home on Lakedale Drive in Lawrence. During the course of the investigation, detectives saw numerous different men and women being transported from a residence on Lakedale to restaurants in Lawrence and Yardley.
Further investigation revealed that 47-year-old Chin Pang Liu was transporting workers back and forth between his house on Lakedale to the Fusion House restaurant on Brunswick Pike and the Golden China Restaurant on Floral Vale Boulevard in Yardley, both of which he owns.
Prosecutors say the people living in his house on Lakedale Drive were employed by Liu at his restaurants, and that their employment was committed by fraud. Prosecutors say the employees were being paid below New Jersey state minimum wage requirements, under the table without being taxed, and that the full-time employees received no employment benefits.
The workers were being transported in vehicles bought and provided by Liu, prosecutors say.
When cops raided Liu’s primary residence on Mink Court in Lawrence, they found approximately $50,000 in cash. A review of Liu’s 2016 personal tax documents revealed that he reported an income of approximately $100,000 for that year, according to prosecutors in the case who say financial documents and cash seized during the raid corroborated that Liu failed to report a significant portion of his income.
Prosecutors say the investigation also revealed that Anna Nails and Massage on Brunswick Pike was being used for prostitution. As a result, Yonglian Liu, 34, and Dong Teng, 45, were each charged with promoting prostitution and maintaining a residence as a place of prostitution.
Prosecutors say Teng owns the spa, and Yonglian Liu was one of Chin Pang Liu’s employees who cops often saw transporting cash from the spa to the Golden China Restaurant.
Teng and Yonglian Liu were issued summonses and released pending future court proceedings.
Chin Pang Liu is charged with human trafficking and failure to pay taxes.