Thread: Sheriff's office raids candlemaker, looks for ID theft

Sheriff's office raids candlemaker, looks for ID theft
264 commentsby Megan Boehnke - Sept. 10, 2008 02:27 PM
The Arizona Republic
About 300 employees of a candlemaking business in south Chandler have been detained since 9:30 Wednesday morning following a raid by Maricopa County Sheriff's officials to search for about 30 workers accused of identity theft, a company spokeswoman said.

The Sheriff's and County Attorney's offices have scheduled a 3:30 p.m. press conference to discuss the case.

It is the latest in a string of raids by the Sheriff's Office to target businesses suspected of violating the state's new employer sanctions law, which carries criminal penalties for those who knowingly hire undocumented immigrants. None of the cases has resulted in charges against employers.
The spokeswoman for Gold Canyon Candle Company, Rebecca Clyde, said officials showed up at the business near Arizona Avenue and Riggs Road on Wednesday and presented company executives with a warrant for specific people on charges of ID theft.

Employees complied, letting deputies into the building. But when the Gold Canyon's lawyer asked to see any documentation, he was denied, Clyde said.

Clyde and the lawyer have been outside all day and deputies are not allowing anyone in or out of the building.

"Everyone is being held inside - they're not allowed to leave. Even the executives aren't being allowed to leave. They probably haven't even had lunch yet," Clyde said. "When our attorney tried to verify the names or actually be present to witness arrest, he was denied. That's a problem because obviously we'd like to know and we've been denied a lot of information."

The company headquarters, at Arizona and Riggs, is home to also its manufacturing and distribution centers.

Since she doesn't know which employees are being targeted or what departments they work in, Clyde said it's too soon to tell how the company will be affected.

"Obviously today was an unproductive day. Hopefully company will go back to normal tomorrow with regular operations," she said.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 10-ON.html

Now this really saddens me

I've been a loyal customer of Gold Canyon's for years....going way back to when they were still making candles in their kitchen at home and selling them at swap meets and flea markets.

As a fellow artisan, I've always tried to patronize others just like me, folks who worked hard to produce an excellent product and make a go of it so it was really nice to see that Gold Canyon had taken off so well.

Now to find THIS out just sickens me. It sickens me even more to know that my own business plans were cut short when my seed money went, ight along with the rest of our savings, after my husband got sick, I can't catch a break to even get going again, and people like this, who had the wonderful opportunity to realize their dreams,go and stoop to this level.

Sep 10, 8:09 PM EDT

65 arrested in Chandler business raid

PHOENIX (AP) -- Authorities raided a candle manufacturing plant near Phoenix on Wednesday in an investigation into whether the business hired illegal immigrants.

While no employer sanction allegations were filed against the Gold Canyon Candle Company in Chandler, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the investigation will continue into whether the business knowingly hired illegal workers.

In any case, 65 people - most of whom were in the country illegally - were arrested in the raid.

Twenty-three people were booked on identity theft allegations. Another 37 were taken into custody simply for being in the country illegally. Five U.S. citizens were arrested on outstanding criminal warrants.

The company said it conducts background checks on all hires and cooperated with investigators.

"Gold Canyon is in compliance with state and federal requirements for hiring co-workers and proactively verifies the work status of every co-worker prior to hiring," CEO Curt Waisath said in a statement.

Arpaio said a woman who has worked at the plant for seven years was using the Social Security number of a man who works in the White House. The sheriff declined to name the White House employee, citing security reasons.

No business operators have been formally accused of civil employer sanction violations in the eight months since Arizona has prohibited employers from knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.

Maricopa County deputies had previously raided two other businesses in similar cases, but none have yet been accused in court of committing such a violation, though employees of the firms were arrested on ID theft charges.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ ... TE=DEFAULT

Good job Joe!!!

65 is a great day's work.

Sheriff's deputies raid Gold Canyon Candle Company

05:38 PM Mountain Standard Time on Wednesday, September 10, 2008

MCSO raids Valley candle company
azfamily.com
LINK: Statement from lawyer from Gold Canyon
LINK: Statement from Gold Canyon

CHANDLER -- Maricopa County sheriff's deputies raided Gold Canyon Candle Company at Arizona Avenue and Riggs Road Wednesday morning.

According to a press release, as many as 23 people are involved in identity theft, a White House staff member connection and an internal plan by plant employees to avoid capture by immigration or law enforcement authorities.

An employee's mother said deputies were inside, asking for immigration papers.

Authorities say 65 people, most of who were illegals, were arrested in the raid. Twenty-three of those were booked on identity theft charges and 37 taken into custody based on their illegal status.

An additional five U.S. citizens were arrested on outstanding warrants.

Gold Canyon Company spokeswoman Rebecca Clyde said deputies showed up with a search warrant, looking for specific individuals on charges of identity theft.

Clyde said Gold Canyon complied with the search, provided e-file documents and worked with MCSO.

"Gold Canyon has always participated in e-verify, verifies all documentation with the government as required, and makes sure that there's appropriate W-2s and I-9s for every employee," Clyde said.

She said MCSO showed the human relations director the search warrant, but did not allow the attorney to review it.

Clyde said the company didn't receive prior notification of the raid.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas will provide more details at a 3:30 p.m. news conference. 3TV and azfamily.com will have more details as they are released.
http://www.azfamily.com/news/homepageto ... 33989.html