Thread: US woman held for abusing illegal Indian immigrant (update)

US woman held for abusing illegal Indian immigrant
Houston, Mar 1, 2012,(PTI)

A wealthy US woman has been arrested for keeping an illegal immigrant from India in a "forced labour situation" that included her working 17 hours a day and sleeping in a walk-in closet.

Annie George, 39, and her husband, who died in a plane crash in 2009, kept their domestic help in a "forced labour situation" in their 30,000 sq ft mansion in Albany for nearly six years, according to court documents.

The worker from Kerala, who has been identified as 'VM', was paid about 85 cents an hour after initially being promised USD 1,000 a month.

It is estimated she received around USD 29,000 during the entire time that she worked at the 12-acre estate, while she should have been paid at least USD 206,000.

Acting on a tip received by the National Human Trafficking Resource Centre, federal immigration agents last year removed the servant from the George estate, which has a helicopter pad, an indoor swimming pool, 15 fireplaces, marble flooring, a four-story solarium, 24-karat gold gilded ceilings, a glass elevator, and other luxurious features.
Under questioning, the servant, who entered the US on a non-immigrant visa in 1998 to work for the family of a UN employee, told federal agents that she received no holiday or sick pay while employed by the Georges, nor was she afforded any dental or medical treatment.

She also had to sleep on the floor in a closet in a bedroom shared by the family's three daughters, the complaint alleges, because "Annie George required that VM be near the children at night."

Investigators said that after V M was removed last year from the mansion, George spoke three times with the woman's son in India.

During one telephone call, George suggested that the "son tell his mother to tell authorities that she was a relative of George's family and was only staying at George’s house as a guest."

During the conversation, which the son recorded, George said: "If she says anything about working, it would become a big crime. They'll start adding up all the taxes and everything, for all the time."

George appeared before a federal magistrate yesterday. She was charged with encouraging and inducing an illegal alien to reside in the US. She was released without bond.


US woman held for abusing illegal Indian immigrant

What an inhuman way to treat another human being. So many of the elite's and privileged's morals and consciences are trash. This disgusts me... and saddens me.

(I am purposely not commenting on her status as she entered, according to this article, on a work visa, but another reason illegal immigration is wrong as slaves are what many become.)

Published: 12:23 pm
Updated: 10:16 pm
fox23news.com

ALBANY, N.Y. - Annie George of Rexford was sentenced in federal court Tuesday for harboring an illegal immigrant at her Saratoga County mansion, Llenroc.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says 41-year-old George has been sentenced to eight months of home detention beginning Tuesday and five years of probation. She has also been ordered to forfeit Llenroc.

In March 8, 2013 she was found guilty on the charge of Harboring an Illegal Alien, but not guilty on the more serious charge of Harboring an Illegal Alien for Financial Gain.

George faced up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The judge said he took her family, specifically her children, into account when issuing the sentence. Her husband died in a plane crash a few years ago.

Between about November 2005 and May 2011, George harbored an illegal alien from India in her homes in Catskill, Menands, and Rexford. During the course of the harboring, the illegal alien performed household chores for George and cared for George's children.

George was accused of cheating the household servant out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in pay and keeping her a virtual prisoner inside her mansion.

The immigrant, Valsamma Mathai, testified that she slept in a closet, worked long days without vacation, days off or sick time and wasn't allowed to leave the property.

Federal prosecutors said Annie George owes Mathai $317,000, based on the minimum wage and overtime for the hours she worked in the George household. Mathai said she was paid only $26,000, much of which she sent to her family in India.

http://www.fox23news.com/news/local/...j22Dyvkqw.cspx