3 Pei Wei restaurants closed due to Arpaio raids

by Luci Scott - Mar. 11, 2011 12:11 PM
The Arizona Republic

Three Pei Wei Asian Diners -- in Tempe, north central Phoenix and Fountain Hills -- are temporarily closed because the restaurants lost so many employees in raids by sheriff's deputies March 4.

"We're working as hard as we can to get these restaurants back open," said Pei Wei spokesman Peter Marino.

An unidentified employee stationed at the Pei Wei at Seventh Street and Glendale Avenue turned away would-be customers Wednesday night, saying that location would reopen March 21.

However, the company is not publicly stating a reopening date for the three sites.

The Tempe restaurant is at Guadalupe and McClintock, and the Fountain Hills location is at Shea Boulevard and Eagle Mountain Parkway.

Phones at the three sites were answered by a recording saying the sites would reopen soon.

The company is hiring and training dozens of new employees.

Twenty-seven people have been arrested by Maricopa County sheriff's deputies during an identity-theft investigation.

Arrests were made at the three restaurants and at the corporate office in Scottsdale.

At the time of the arrests, Sheriff Joe Arpaio said he believed more than 120 Pei Wei employees used false identities from around the nation.

"We are still looking for the additional suspects, and the case in ongoing," Sheriff's Office spokesman Jeff Sprong said Thursday. Asked whether Pei Wei would change procedures in the hiring process, Marino said, "We were victims of fraud. The information (from applicants) all checked out. We are being as diligent as we can be. We are an e-Verify company, so we're doing all we can."

P.F. Chang's China Bistro Inc., the parent company that operates 167 Pei Wei restaurants, said in a statement that the company is cooperating with investigators. It said it has rigorous pre-employment and hiring practices.

Arpaio said the raids were prompted by an anonymous tip his office had received about possible identity thefts.

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