KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) The owner of two Chinese restaurants in Kansas and Missouri has been charged with harboring immigrant workers who were in the country illegally.
A criminal complaint filed Wednesday in federal court names Wei Liu, owner of Wei’s Super Buffet restaurants in Olathe, Kan., and Kansas City, Mo.
Liu made a first appearance Wednesday in U.S. District Court on charges of knowingly employing, transporting and housing workers in the country unlawfully. His wife and four other people are also charged. Court records do not indicate any attorneys.
A federal investigator says agents began surveillance in 2011, checking labor reports and interviewing managers of apartments that were rented for workers. Authorities said some of the workers were found Tuesday living at the homes of some of the defendants.
