Thread: 7-Eleven franchise owners admit ‘plantation’ system to boost profits

7-Eleven owners admit ‘plantation’ system to boost profits

By Selim Algar
September 22, 2014 | 4:31pm

Photo: Chad Rachman

A crew of crooked 7-Eleven franchise owners pleaded guilty to setting up a “plantation” system for illegal alien employees to increase profits at their Slurpee strongholds in Virginia and Long Island, according to the feds.

Five defendants copped to knowingly hiring illegal aliens, siphoning off their earnings and forcing them to live in dingy boarding homes scattered across Suffolk County, according to court papers.

The scheme skimmed a total of $2.6 million that was owed to the workers, court papers state.

“Using the 7-Eleven brand, the defendants dispensed wire fraud and identity theft, along with Big Gulps and candy bars,” said US Attorney Loretta Lynch in a statement. “In our backyards, the defendants not only systematically employed illegal aliens, but concealed their employment by using the names of children and even the dead.”

Mastermind Farrukh Baig — a Pakistani bigshot who counts former Prime Minister Pervez Musharraf as a pal — faces up to 20 years in prison at his sentencing.

Modal Trigger
Farrukh Baig (second row, third from left) is the alleged mastermind.Photo: Victor Alcorn

The exploited staffers served affluent customers at locations including Sag Harbor and Greenport while living in squalor, prosecutors said.

The mostly Pakistani and Filipino workers routinely labored a staggering 100 hours a week behind the counter and were paid just $350 to $500 in cash — about a quarter of what they had earned, according to the feds.

“We are committed to preserving the rule of law and and protecting our communities from the abuses of corrupt businesses seeking to gain an illegal advantage,” Lynch said.

Baig and his henchmen covered up the scheme by stealing the identities of American citizens — including kids, the deceased and a US Coast Guard cadet — and assigning them to their staffers.

Several of those who copped are members of the Baig family.

Prosecutors said Farrukh Baig lived in fancy Head of Harbor on Long Island and freely spent the profits from their 14 7-Eleven locations on ​​cars and other luxuries.

http://nypost.com/2014/09/22/7-eleve...rease-profits/

http://www.alipac.us/f12/hsi-investi...istory-311384/