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Valley sushi restaurant chain owner arrested
Yung Lau, who has ownership stakes in Sakura Sushi locations in Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale and Gilbert, was arrested as part of a homeland security investigation into alleged human trafficking.
PHOENIX - A Phoenix-area restaurant owner is facing federal charges for allegedly running a human trafficking operation to staff his businesses.
What we know:
Yung Lau, who has ownership stakes in Sakura Sushi locations in Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale and Gilbert, was arrested as part of a homeland security investigation into alleged human trafficking.
Dig deeper:
According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court, Lau used a recruitment network in Mexico and Central America to find workers, paying them in cash and often below minimum wage.
"Yung Lau engaged in a pattern and practice of hiring for employment and continuing to employ, aliens in the United States, knowing the aliens were and had become unauthorized with respect to such employment," read a portion of the court documents.
On Dec. 11, Lau was interviewed by Homeland Security where he allegedly admitted to hiring and housing undocumented immigrants because "It was hard to find workers to do the jobs he needed."
Lau is accused of harboring illegal aliens and a pattern and practice of knowingly employing unauthorized aliens, the complaint read.
The Source: Information for this story was gathered from a criminal complaint filed in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona on Dec. 12.