http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/ ... -headlines

Restaurant owners face illegal alien charges
3 allegedly housed, employed workers from Indonesia, laundered money

By Matthew Dolan
Sun Reporter

March 2, 2006, 5:45 PM EST

Federal authorities charged the owners of a highly rated Japanese restaurant in downtown Baltimore today with employing illegal immigrants and money laundering, arresting three people and detaining about a dozen others on suspected immigration violations.

Tzu Ming Yang, 48, his wife, Jui Fan Lee Yang, age 49, and Jack Chang, 41, all of Clarksville were charged in a criminal complaint with knowingly employing and harboring illegal aliens from Indonesia.

According to the criminal complaints, Tzu and Jui Yang operated three Kawasaki Restaurants in the city -- one in the 400 block of North Charles St. in Mount Vernon; one at Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 600 block of North Wolfe St.; and, together with Chang, one in the 900 block of South Ann St. in Fells Point.

During the period from January 1997 until February of this month, the defendants are accused of "paying illegal aliens low wages, no overtime and [taking] their tips," according to court papers.

Each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the money laundering charge, 10 years in prison for harboring aliens and six months in prison for employing illegal aliens.

All three defendants appeared in court for the first time today. U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth P. Gesner released them until their next court appearance but ordered them to surrender their passports, prosecutors said.

A federal immigration agent in Baltimore said that 10 to 15 employees from the restarants were also detained on immigration violations. They could be held or released pending a deportation hearing.