Agents from the Department of Homeland Security raided fourteen 7-Eleven stores in New York and Virginia on Monday, arresting nine owners and managers and seizing property.
Franchisee owners, say the Feds, are accused of running “a modern day plantation system” of indentured workers, Business Week reported. The 7-Eleven owners, who employed at least 50 illegal immigrants over 13 years, have been charged with aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, harboring illegal immigrants and not paying minimum wages to their employees.
According to reports, the immigrant workers weren’t paid in full and they were forced to live in boarding houses and pay rent in cash to the store owners.
Read more on the “modern day plantation system” here.
