ISLIP, N.Y. -- Saying that it "will not tolerate this conduct in its franchisees and will continue to cooperate with federal authorities in this matter," convenience store corporation 7-Eleven Inc. denounced the actions of a Long Island husband and wife who pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Monday to being among the leaders of a conspiracy that exploited undocumented immigrant workers at their 7-Eleven stores on Long Island and in Virginia.
"The Justice Department announced it had secured guilty pleas for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to harbor illegal immigrants for financial gain from former, independent 7-Eleven franchisees," a statement provided to CSP Daily News by Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc. said. "7-Eleven Inc. has cooperated fully with the government's investigation of this matter for more than three years. Good, hardworking franchisees are the backbone of the 7-Eleven brand. The defendants who admitted their guilt today violated federal law and also the trust that 7-Eleven placed in them as franchisees under the franchise system."
As reported in a 21st Century Smoke/CSP Daily News Flash, five franchisees and operators of 7-Eleven convenience stores located throughout Long Island and Virginia entered guilty pleas Monday at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, N.Y. The defendants pled guilty to committing wire fraud and concealing and harboring illegal aliens employed at 7-Eleven stores.
The guilty pleas stem from an extensive investigation by U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement's (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Agents from the Department of Homeland Security arrested the couple along with three others in June 2013. (Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage.)
Farrukh Baig, 58, of Head of Harbor, N.Y., and Malik Yousaf, 52, of South Setauket, N.Y., face up to 20 years' imprisonment, and Bushra Baig, 50, of Head of Harbor, Shahnawaz Baig, 63, of Virginia Beach, Va., and Zahid Baig, 53, of Chesapeake, Va., face up to 10 years' imprisonment. The defendants used identities stolen from U.S. citizens, including the deceased and children to conceal their scheme and harbored illegal alien workers at houses own by the defendants.
Baig pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conceal and harbor illegal aliens for financial gain and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. His wife pleaded guilty to harboring. Zahid Baig and Shannawaz Baig also pleaded guilty to harboring. An associate, Malik Yousaf, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and harboring.
"These defendants knowingly hired illegal aliens to feed their greed, stole the identities of unsuspecting U.S. citizens and swindled more than 2.6 million dollars in wages from their enslaved workers. As a result of this investigation, HSI and its law enforcement partners have recorded the largest worksite enforcement forfeiture in the United States," said James T. Hayes Jr. special agent-in-charge of HSI New York.
According to court filings and facts presented in court, the defendants, who owned, managed and controlled 14 7-Eleven franchise stores during the course of the conspiracies, allegedly hired dozens of illegal aliens, equipped them with more than 20 identities stolen from United States citizens, housed them at residences owned by the defendants and stole substantial portions of their wages. During the scheme, the defendants generated more than $182 million in proceeds from the 7-Eleven franchise stores. Profits from those stores were shared by the defendants and 7-Eleven.
These are the first convictions in the government's ongoing inquiry, which is already one of the largest criminal alien employment investigations ever conducted by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. The case constitutes ICE's largest criminal immigration forfeiture in its history.
The defendants have agreed to forfeit the franchise rights to 10 7-Eleven stores in New York and four 7-Eleven stores in Virginia, as well as five houses in New York worth over $1.3 million. In addition, the defendants agreed to pay $2.62 million in restitution for the back wages that they stole from their workers. Two additional defendants in this case have previously pled guilty.
"Using the 7-Eleven brand, the defendants dispensed wire fraud and identity theft, along with Big Gulps and candy bars. In our backyards, the defendants not only systematically employed illegal aliens, but concealed their employment by stealing the identities of children and even the dead. The defendants also exploited their alien employees, stealing their wages and requiring them to live in unregulated boarding houses," said Loretta E. Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Sentencing has not yet been scheduled but will be held before U.S. District Judge Sandra J. Feuerstein, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip. U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven I. Locke took the pleas.
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