Man lures cousin to US and forces him to work at gas station for 3 years, feds say
A husband and wife lured the man’s cousin to the U.S. by promising to help enroll him in college — then, instead, forced him to work at a gas station for years, federal prosecutors said.
After the minor arrived in Virginia from India, Harmanpreet Singh and Kulbir Kaur confiscated his immigration documents and “immediately put him to work,” the Justice Department said in a Jan. 22 news release.
They forced him to work long hours at the Lovely Market, a gas station and convenience store owned by Singh in North Chesterfield, for little pay from March 2018 through May 2021, according to court documents.
When the cousin confronted the couple about his poor working conditions or expressed his desire to enroll in school, Singh became violent, a trial brief says.
Singh slapped, kicked and pulled his cousin’s hair and repeatedly threatened to kill him, according to the trial brief.
Singh also threatened his cousin with a revolver when the victim tried to take a day off work or leave, prosecutors said.
The couple continued to lie to the cousin with false promises to help enroll him in school to make him “more likely to stay and more vulnerable to their coercion,” according to the trial brief.
A federal jury convicted Singh, 30, and Kaur, 43, who are both from the Richmond area, of forced labor, conspiracy to commit forced labor, harboring for financial gain and document servitude on Jan. 19, the Justice Department said.
The verdicts were returned after a two-week trial, according to prosecutors.
Defense attorneys representing Singh, Atchuthan Sriskandarajah and Matthew Greene, told McClatchy News in a joint statement on Jan. 22 that their client “respects the hard work of the jury” but “he does strongly disagree with their verdict.”
“At this point, Mr. Singh looks forward to aggressively exploring his post-conviction options including an appeal,” Sriskandarajah and Greene said.
Kaur’s defense attorney Ali Amirshahi said Kaur pleaded not guilty in the case and “intends to appeal the jury’s verdict.”
“Ms. Kaur is disappointed that the jury convicted her even though the evidence clearly demonstrated she did not own or run the business in question,” Amirshahi said in a statement to McClatchy News on Jan. 22.
Singh and Kaur are both accused of threatening the victim with physical abuse to keep him working at the gas station and prevent him from leaving, according to the trial brief.
He was forced to work as a cashier, prepare food, clean the store and manage store records, prosecutors said.
On some occasions, the couple made him sleep in a back office of the store for several days, according to the Justice Department. They’re accused of surveilling him at the store and in their home.
Singh and Kaur also restricted his access to food and medical care, prosecutors said.
Despite his requests, the couple didn’t allow him to return to India and forced him to overstay his visa, according to the Justice Department.
“These defendants engaged in an egregious bait-and-switch, luring the victim with false promises of an education in the United States and instead subjecting him to grueling hours, degrading living conditions and a litany of mental and physical abuse,” U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber, of the Eastern District of Virginia, said in a statement.
“Forced labor and human trafficking are abhorrent crimes that have no place in our society, and I am grateful to our team of prosecutors, agents and support staff for ensuring that justice was done in this case,” Aber said.
Singh and Kaur are scheduled to be sentenced May 8, according to prosecutors.
They face up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and must pay mandatory restitution for the charge of forced labor, the Justice Department said.
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