'Inhumane exploitation': California store owners forced man to work long hours, sleep in closet, bathe in mop bucket, DA's office says
A California couple was arrested on human trafficking charges after investigators discovered a man working in their liquor store who said he slept in a storage closet, worked long hours every day and was never paid, officials said.
Amarjit and Balwinder Mann were arrested on charges of labor human trafficking, witness intimidation and wage theft involving a total of four victims, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced Monday.
The Manns, both 66, own what the district attorney's office called a "profitable liquor store and market" in Gilroy, about 80 miles southeast of San Francisco. In February, an Alcoholic Beverage Control inspection led to investigators speaking with a man who "appeared to be living in a small storage room in the back area of the store," the DA's office said in a news release.
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The man worked 15 hours a day, seven days a week, and bathed in a mop bucket, the district attorney's office said. Agents found a mattress lying over milk crates, an office desk that contained clothes, and pots and pans for cooking on top of the desk, the agency said.
“Slavery officially was abolished in 1865,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “Tragically, we are seeing examples of it in 2020. My office will prosecute anyone to the fullest extent of the law who practices this kind of criminal and inhumane exploitation.”
The investigation also found the man had flown from India and expected "travel to the U.S. with the couple." The two took the man's passport and money and then "put him to work without pay or a key to leave the liquor store at night," according to the district attorney's office.
Investigators also found three other men — one of them had never heard of a minimum wage — who worked long hours and were barely paid. Two of the three men worked at the liquor store and the other worked at the market, the district attorney's office said.
The couple who owned the liquor store "engaged in predatory recruitment of their workers from India and lured them with promises of travel and financial independence," the DA's office said.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California store owners charged with human trafficking, wage theft
