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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    U.S. Seizes 14 7-Eleven Stores in Immigration Raids

    U.S. Seizes 14 7-Eleven Stores in Immigration Raids

    By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM and MOSI SECRET
    Published: June 17, 2013

    Federal authorities seized 14 7-Eleven stores on Long Island and in Virginia early Monday, arresting nine owners and managers and charging them with harboring and hiring illegal immigrants and paying them using sham Social Security numbers, people briefed on the case said.


    Michael Nagle for The New York Times
    Homeland Security officers entered a 7-11 in Islip Terrace, N.Y., on Monday.

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn were also investigating 40 other 7-Eleven franchises in New York City and elsewhere, the person said, and the prosecutors were seeking $30 million in forfeiture from the stores and their corporate parent. The franchises split their profits with the corporation, which handles the store payrolls, the people said.

    The owners and managers — eight men and a woman — were charged in an indictment to be unsealed Monday morning, the people said. It included accusations of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft stemming from payment of employees who were illegal immigrants using the Social Security numbers of children and the dead, the people said.

    One of the people said the owners and managers had abused and taken advantage of the illegal immigrant workers.

    Many of those charged were of Pakistani descent and it was believed that most, if not all, of the illegal immigrants were also from Pakistan, one of the people said.

    In one instance, an employee of one franchise was paid using the Social Security number of a former 7-Eleven employee, a person who had not worked for the store for 10 years and who had been the target of collection efforts by the Internal Revenue Service for much of that time because of the reported payments to the illegal immigrant, the people said.

    The conduct charged in the indictment, the people said, had been going on for more than a decade. Twenty-five of the 40 additional 7-Eleven franchises under scrutiny were to be inspected on Monday as part of the ongoing investigation, the people said. Several of those stores were in New York City.

    One of the people briefed on the matter, noting that the parent company handled the store payrolls, said there were no internal controls to prevent the same Social Security numbers from being used to pay more than one store employee, which happened in more than one instance.

    Scott Matter, a spokesman for the parent company, said it was aware of the arrests and seizures and “has been cooperating with federal authorities during their investigation.” Mr. Matter said the company would have no comment until it learned more about the case.

    By about 9 a.m., eight of the nine who had been indicted were in custody, five of them in New York and three in Virginia, one of the people said. The last individual was being sought.

    One of the raids took place about 6 a.m., at a 7-Eleven on Carleton Avenue in Islip Terrace, on Long Island, according to a law enforcement agent at the scene who declined to give his name or reveal the agency he worked for. One person, he said, was taken into custody from the store and two people were taken away from a house across the street. It was unclear what connection the house had to the investigation.

    The store remained closed through the early morning, with law enforcement agents turning away customers who ordinarily stop in for coffee. A worker for the Town of Islip said he had seen similar law enforcement activity at several other nearby 7-Elevens.

    The United States attorney in Brooklyn, Loretta E. Lynch, and James T. Hayes, who is in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s office of investigations in New York City, were expected to announce the charges later Monday morning, along with officials from the New York State Police and the Suffolk County Police Department.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/nyregion/us-seizes-14-7-eleven-stores-in-immigration-raids.html?_r=0
    Last edited by JohnDoe2; 04-27-2015 at 04:00 PM.
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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Realtime Coverage
    NY, Va. 7-Eleven Stores Raided as Part...
    ABC News - ‎5 minutes ago‎

    Nine owners and managers of 7-Eleven stores across Long Island and in Virginia were charged on Monday in a scheme to exploit immigrants from Pakistan and the Philippines, in part by paying them using the stolen Social Security numbers of a child and ...



    Feds: NY, Va. 7-Eleven stores exploited immigrants
    MyFOX Providence WNAC - ‎2 minutes ago‎


    Feds Raid Nearly a Dozen Long Island 7-Elevens in Illegal Immigration Probe ...
    NBC New York - ‎14 minutes ago‎


    Feds raid 7-Eleven stores in Va., N.Y., arrest 20 in immigration scam
    Washington Times - ‎22 minutes ago‎


    NY, Va. 7-Eleven stores raided as part of US investigation into human smuggling
    Washington Post - ‎25 minutes ago‎


    Officials: 7-Eleven stores raided as part of US probe involving smuggling illegal ...
    News 12 Connecticut - ‎33 minutes ago‎



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    Nine Charged in Immigration Probe at 7-Eleven Franchises
    Wall Street Journal - ‎35 minutes ago‎

    Nine people have been charged by U.S. prosecutors in two alleged schemes to employ illegal immigrants at 14 7-Eleven franchises in New York and Virginia. More than 50 illegal immigrants were allegedly employed at 7-Eleven locations on Long Island and ...

    NY, Va. 7-Eleven stores raided as part of US probe
    Wall Street Journal - ‎46 minutes ago‎

    NEW YORK — Federal authorities say they've raided 7-Eleven stores in New York and Virginia as part of an investigation into human smuggling, identity theft and money laundering. The inquiry involves allegations that store owners helped smuggle workers ...




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    US Seizes 14 7-Eleven Stores in Immigration Raids
    New York Times - ‎3 hours ago‎

    Federal authorities seized 14 7-Eleven stores on Long Island and in Virginia early Monday, arresting nine owners and managers and charging them with harboring and hiring illegal immigrants and paying them using sham Social Security numbers, people ...

    Ten 7-Eleven shops raided on Long Island in apparent illegal immigration sweep
    New York's PIX11 / WPIX-TV - ‎4 hours ago‎

    ISLIP, LONG ISLAND (PIX11) – PIX 11 was on the scene Monday morning as agents from the Department of Homeland Security raided multiple 7 Eleven stores in Suffolk County, Long Island, ready to charge managers with harboring illegal immigrants.





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    Last edited by JohnDoe2; 06-17-2013 at 07:48 PM.
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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Federal authorities raid New York, Virginia 7-Eleven stores in human smuggling probe

    Published June 17, 2013
    FoxNews.com

    A group of 7-Eleven store in New York and Virginia were taken into custody by federal authorities Monday as part of a criminal immigrant employment investigation that the Department of Homeland Security is describing as one of the largest in history.
    Fourteen stores were raided Monday and nine individuals -- eight men and one woman -- were indicted on allegations that store owners helped smuggle workers into the U.S. The immigrant workers are believed to be from Pakistan, the Associated Press reports. The New York raids were centered on Long Island.
    The nine were charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud, stealing identities, and concealing and harboring dozens of illegal immigrants, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement statement. The workers were equipped with more than 20 identities stolen from U.S. citizens, were housed at properties owned by the store owners and had large portions of their wages stolen by managers, the statement also alleges.
    The defendants "not only systematically employed illegal immigrants, they concealed their crimes by raiding the cradle and grave to steal the identities of children and even the dead," U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement.
    The employers housed them in illegal boarding rooms, "in effect creating a modern day plantation system," Lynch added.
    The defendants are to appear in court later Monday at courthouses in Central Islip, New York, and Norfolk, Va., and face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of conspiracy.
    Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent-in-Charge James T. Hayes, Jr. said the alleged criminal employement had gone on for more than a decade.
    "The 7-11 franchises seized today will be better known for their big fraud than their Big Gulp. As alleged, the franchise owners knowingly and repeatedly employed an illegal workforce and abused and exploited that workforce for more than 13 years," he said. "This charged criminal scheme had a vast detrimental effect on both the employees who were overworked and cheated out of wages, as well as the more than 25 American citizens whose lives were upended by the theft of their identities in furtherance of the scheme."
    The identities, according to court documents, allegedly came from people in seven states, including a child, three dead people and a Coast Guard cadet.
    Court filings indicate the government is pushing to forfeit the franchise rights to ten 7-Eleven stores in New York and four 7-Eleven stores in Virginia, in addition to five New York homes worth more than $1.3 million.
    "According to the Department of Homeland Security, the case announced today constitutes the largest criminal immigration forfeiture in its history," the ICE statement said.
    Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are now inspecting 30 7-Eleven franchise stores across the country for similar human smuggling infractions.
    A 7-Eleven spokesman said the company was cooperating with the investigation, but declined further comment.

    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/17/ny-va-7-eleven-stores-raided-as-part-us-investigation-into-human-smuggling/
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  4. #4
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    I.C.E.News Release

    June 17, 2013
    Brooklyn, NY
    HSI arrests 7-11 franchise owners in illegal alien employment scheme




    BROOKLYN, N.Y – Two indictments were unsealed Monday charging eight men and one woman from Long Island with conspiring to commit wire fraud, stealing identities and concealing and harboring illegal aliens employed at 7-11 Inc. franchise stores located throughout Long Island and Virginia. The charges, arrests and seizures resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, the New York State Police and the Suffolk County Police.
    The defendants are Farrukh Baig, 57, and Bushra Baig, 49, a married couple who owned, co-owned or controlled 12 of the 7-11 franchise stores located on Long Island and in Virginia; Zahid Baig, 52, and Shannawaz Baig, 62, Farrukh Baig’s brothers who helped to manage and control the stores; and Malik Yousaf, 51, Tariq Rana, 34, and Ramon Nanas, 49. Brothers Ahzar Zia, 49, and Ummar Uppal, 48, indicted separately, owned and controlled two other Suffolk County 7-11 franchise stores.
    Through this scheme, the defendants allegedly hired dozens of illegal aliens, equipped them with more than 20 identities stolen from U.S. citizens, housed them at residences owned by the defendants and stole substantial portions of their wages. If convicted, the defendants face 20 years in prison on wire fraud conspiracy and alien harboring charges, as well as multiple counts of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory, consecutive two-year term of incarceration. In addition, all property used to facilitate the harboring of illegal aliens, together with all proceeds of the wire fraud conspiracy and alien harboring charges, are subject to forfeiture.
    The victims of the identity theft hail from seven states, ranging in age from 8 to 78 years old, and include a child, three deceased people and a U.S. Coast Guard cadet. The defendants, allegedly together with others, caused the 7-11 payroll service to transmit this false information, including the stolen identity information, to U.S. regulatory agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration.
    During the scheme, the defendants allegedly generated more than $182 million in proceeds from the 7-11 franchise stores. Profits from those stores were shared by the defendants and 7-11.
    "As set forth in the indictments, the defendants used 7-11 as a platform from which to run elaborate criminal enterprises. From their 7-11 stores, the defendants dispensed wire fraud and identity theft, along with Slurpees and hot dogs. In bedroom communities across Long Island and Virginia, the defendants not only systematically employed illegal immigrants, but concealed their crimes by raiding the cradle and the grave to steal the identities of children and even the dead. Finally, 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," stated U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta E. Lynch. "As this case shows, we are committed to preserving the rule of law and protecting our communities from the abuses of corrupt businessmen seeking to gain illegal advantage. I would like to thank our partners at HSI, New York State Police, Suffolk County Police and the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General for their hard work on this important investigation."
    "The 7-11 franchises seized today will be better known for their big fraud than their Big Gulp. As alleged, the franchise owners knowingly and repeatedly employed an illegal workforce and abused and exploited that workforce for more than 13 years," said James T. Hayes Jr., special agent in charge of HSI New York. "This charged criminal scheme had a vast detrimental effect on both the employees who were overworked and cheated out of wages, as well as the more than 25 American citizens whose lives were upended by the theft of their identities in furtherance of the scheme."
    The indictments, arrests and seizures are the result of one of the largest criminal alien employment investigations ever conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As set forth in court filings, the government has moved to forfeit the franchise rights to ten 7-11 stores in New York and four 7-11 stores in Virginia. In the indictments, the government has also moved to forfeit five houses in New York worth more than $1.3 million. According to DHS, this case constitutes the largest criminal alien forfeiture in its history.
    In addition to the charges already filed, federal agents fanned out early Monday across the country to execute multiple search and seizure warrants and inspect approximately thirty 7-11 franchise stores. The actions taken are the initial results of an ongoing investigation into the employment and exploitation of illegal aliens at 7-11 franchise stores nationwide.
    HSI encourages the public to report suspected labor trafficking, forced labor or the exploitation of undocumented workers through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 (from the U.S. and Canada), or from anywhere in the world at 1-802-872-6199, or online at www.ice.gov/tips.

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.
    ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov. To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423 or complete our tip form.



    http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1306/130617brooklyn.htm
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  5. #5
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Feds raid 7-Eleven stores in Va., NY, arrest 20 in immigration scam
    Washington Times ‎- 4 hours ago
    More than a dozen 7-Eleven convenience stores in New York and Virginia were raided Monday by federal agents as part of a nationwide ...
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  6. #6
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    WHO OWNS 7-ELEVEN?

    Seven & I Holdings Co.

    From Wikipedia


    Type Public
    Traded as TYO: 3382
    Industry Retailing
    Founded September 1, 2005 (2005-09-01) (from merger)
    Headquarters 8-8, Nibancho, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
    Key people Toshifumi Suzuki, CEO
    Noritoshi Murata, President
    Services Department stores, Superstores, Supermarkets, Convenience stores, Restaurants, Financial services
    Revenue ¥4.786 trillion (2012)
    Operating income ¥292.06 billion (2012)
    Net income ¥129.83 billion (2012)
    Total assets ¥3.889 trillion (2012)
    Total equity ¥1.860 trillion (2012)
    Employees 52,692 (2012)
    Subsidiaries Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd.
    7-Eleven, Inc.
    Seven-Eleven (Hawaii), Inc.
    Seven-Eleven (Beijing) Co., Ltd.
    Ito Yokado Co., Ltd.
    Sogo & Seibu Co., Ltd.
    Seven Bank, Ltd.
    Website www.7andi.com

    Seven & I Holdings Co., Ltd.
    (株式会社セブン&アイ・ホールディングス, Kabushiki-gaisha Sebun ando Ai Hōrudingusu?, Seven-i (セブンアイ)) is a Japanese diversified retail group headquartered in Nibancho, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.[1] Founded originally in 1920 as Ito-Yokado, Seven & I is now the fifth largest retailer in the world,[2] with 35,000 stores in approximately 100 countries.
    History[edit]

    Seven & I Holdings was established on September 1, 2005 as the parent company of the 7-Eleven Japan chain of convenience stores, the Ito-Yokado grocery and clothing stores, and the Denny's Japan family restaurants.

    In November 2005, it completed the purchase of US-based 7-Eleven Inc.

    On December 26, 2005, the company announced its acquisition of Millennium Retailing holding company, parent of the Sogo and Seibu Department Stores chains. The acquisition makes Seven & I Holdings the largest distribution and retailing business in Japan.

    On August 11, 2006, Seven & I purchased Lombard, Illinois-based White Hen.[4]

    In July 2007, the group announced the enlargement of their American chain 7-Eleven. They proposed an additional 1000 stores in a $2.4 billion plan that would see their US operation grow to over 7,000 stores. The target was set to achieve $10 billion in sales in the US by 2010.

    On June 11, 2012, Seven & I, through its 7-Eleven, Inc. subsidiary, acquired 23 convenience stores in the US from Strasburger Enterprises, Inc.[5]
    Subsidiaries[edit]



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_%26_I_Holdings_Co.

    Last edited by JohnDoe2; 04-27-2015 at 04:29 PM.
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  7. #7
    Senior Member HAPPY2BME's Avatar
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    How many 7-11 stores are there in the USA?

    How many Mexican restaurants in Long Island?
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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HAPPY2BME View Post
    How many 7-11 stores are there in the USA? . . .
    7-Eleven currently has more than 8,200 owned, operated and franchised stores in the United States — almost all as franchises.[36]
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7-Eleven
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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HAPPY2BME View Post
    . . . How many Mexican restaurants in Long Island?
    Mexican Restaurants - Long Island | Zagat

    www.zagat.com/longisland/mexican-restaurants
    • Cached
      Find restaurant reviews and ratings for mexican Long Island. Browse 64 matching restaurants on ZAGAT.com.
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  10. #10
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    U.S. Seizes 14 7-Eleven Stores in Immigration Raids

    The NY Times article has been updated to the following.
    ~~~

    By MOSI SECRET and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
    Published: June 17, 2013
    The New York Times


    Michael Nagle for The New York Times
    Homeland Security officers entered a 7-Eleven in Islip Terrace, N.Y., on Monday.


    More than a dozen 7-Eleven franchises took in more than $180 million in revenue by running a “modern-day plantation system,” prosecutors in New York charged on Monday, built on the unpaid labor of dozens of illegal immigrants hired using sham Social Security numbers.

    Federal authorities seized 14 7-Eleven stores on Long Island and in Virginia, arresting nine owners and managers, and seized property, including five homes. They are investigating 40 other 7-Eleven franchises in New York City and elsewhere in one of the largest criminal immigrant employment investigations ever conducted by the Justice and Homeland Security Departments, officials said.

    Through the scheme, the defendants, who as franchisees for the parent company were licensed to use 7-Eleven buildings, trademarks and Slurpee and hot dog machines, recruited more than 50 illegal immigrants and gave them identities stolen from American citizens, including children and dead people.

    The employees worked for 100 hours a week but were paid for a fraction of that time, and were forced to live in substandard housing owned by the operators of the convenience stores, the authorities said.

    The store managers escaped notice, some for more than a decade, because the national company, 7-Eleven Inc., which has more than 7,600 stores in the United States, did not have safeguards in place to protect its payroll system from employee fraud, the authorities said. For example, two immigrant employees, one in New York and one in Virginia, used the same Social Security number to get paid.

    There was “little to no effort to insure the integrity of their payroll system,” said Loretta E. Lynch, the United States attorney in Brooklyn, whose office helped investigate the case.

    A spokesman for 7-Eleven Inc., Scott Matter, said in a statement that the company would “take aggressive actions to audit the employment status of all its franchisees’ employees” and was cooperating with federal authorities. The company, based in Dallas, is one of the largest operators of convenience stores in the world.

    The raids come as Congress is debating a major overhaul of the immigration system, and Obama administration officials have been called upon to defend their record on enforcement against illegal immigration to convince skeptical lawmakers, many of them Republicans, that the nation is ready to grant legal status to undocumented immigrants.

    Under the Obama administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has moved away from high-profile workplace raids in which dozens of workers in the country illegally were rounded up for deportation. Instead, agents from ICE, as the agency is known, have relied on audits of employers’ hiring records to detect illegal immigrant workers.

    The audits were low profile but often very effective at forcing illegal immigrants to leave their jobs.

    Federal immigration officials said the wage theft and other abuses of the workers in the 7-Eleven case were the type of violation they now treat as a priority. Vincent Picard, an ICE spokesman, said the timing of the arrests was not related to the debate in Washington.

    The case began two years ago when a 7-Eleven employee approached the New York State Police about not being paid for his work. Another worker later contacted the Suffolk County police.

    The investigation led to two families and their associates with roots in Pakistan and the Philippines, who recruited from their own ethnic communities.

    Farrukh and Bushra Baig, a married couple and American citizens from Pakistan who live on Long Island, owned and managed 12 stores in New York and Virginia along with Mr. Baig’s brothers, Zahid and Shannawaz, and his associates, Malik Yousaf, Tariq Rana and Ramon Nanas. All have been charged.

    A separate case was brought against two brothers, Ahzar Zia, a citizen of the United States and Pakistan, and Ummar Uppal, who the authorities said was an illegal immigrant. They own and control two stores in Suffolk County.

    The defendants entered each employee’s personal information and hours worked into computer terminals at the stores. The parent company processed the payroll and sent the wages to the employers for distribution. The defendants, officials said, never paid the workers all that they were due.

    Instead, prosecutors said, they might have earned $300 to $500 per week for 100 hours of work.

    Ms. Lynch said the employees “were not innocent victims in this scheme,” but added that they had been abused.

    Investigators have not found a connection between the two families, suggesting that the knowledge of how to exploit the payroll system could have been widespread and the ongoing investigation is based on payroll records provided by the parent company. Prosecutors are seeking $30 million in forfeiture from the stores and the corporate parent.

    The charges were announced at a news conference by Ms. Lynch and James T. Hayes, who is in charge of ICE’s office of investigations in New York City, along with officials from the New York State Police and the Suffolk County Police Department.

    “From their 7-Eleven stores the defendants dispensed wire fraud and identity theft, along with Slurpees and hot dogs,” Ms. Lynch said. “In bedroom communities across Long Island and Virginia, the defendants not only systematically employed illegal immigrants but concealed their crimes by raiding the cradle and grave to steal the identify of children and even the dead.”

    Ms. Lynch said the defendants “ruthlessly exploited their immigrant employees,” forcing them to live in unregulated boardinghouses and “creating a modern -day plantation system.”

    In one instance, an employee of one franchise was paid using the Social Security number of a former 7-Eleven employee, a person who had not worked for the store for 10 years and who had been the target of collection efforts by the Internal Revenue Service for much of that time because of the reported payments to the illegal immigrant, officials said.

    The charges against the owners and managers, eight men and a woman, included wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. Each pleaded not guilty in federal court and was held in custody pending trial.

    The conduct charged in the indictment, officials said, had been going on since 2000, during which the defendants generated more than $180 million in revenue.

    One of the raids took place around 6 a.m., at a 7-Eleven on Carleton Avenue in Islip Terrace, on Long Island, according to a law enforcement agent at the scene who declined to give his name or reveal the agency he worked for. One person, he said, was taken into custody from the store and two people were taken away from a house across the street.

    A neighbor who lives near the house said the home had been divided into several apartments.

    “It’s packed in there,” said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified. “There’s been a constant flow of new people coming in.”
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