Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Story last updated at 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16, 2008

10 charged with placing illegals in jobs



The Associated Press

ATLANTA - A federal grand jury has indicted 10 people from suburban Atlanta employment agencies on charges they placed illegal immigrants in jobs at Chinese restaurants and warehouses in six states.



The agencies allegedly developed a network to "recruit and exploit" undocumented workers, said Kenneth Smith, special agent in charge of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Atlanta.

Between October 2006 and April 2008 the agencies advertised their services and charged immigrants a fee for finding a job, without requiring any proof that the workers were allowed to work in the U.S, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said.

He said the restaurants in Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Florida and Alabama often provided housing and paid workers in cash to avoid taxes.

Those indicted are: Deng Yao Wen, 44, of Lilburn; Pik To Cheng, 48, of Norcross; Lin Chen, 31, of Norcross; Hong Mei Li, 40, of Tucker; Francisco Martinez Anaya, 31, of Chamblee; Aleck Ki Man Hui, 70, of Suwanee; Armando Dominguez Lopez, 42, of Chamblee; Yutong Jiang, 51, of Norcross; Edmundo Herrera, 29, of Chamblee; and Yifeng Yang, 23, of Tucker.

Cheng and Wen were arraigned late Tuesday and granted bond. Li, Chen and Lopez are scheduled for hearings Thursday.

The others were not immediately scheduled for hearings.

Officials said the charges were not related to immigration raids Wednesday at Pilgrim's Pride plants in five states. Federal agents say those raids were expected to lead to more than 100 arrests in a crackdown on an alleged scam to provide fake identification for illegal immigrant workers.


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