Boston restaurant Father and Son owners accused of human smuggling
On Tuesday, authorities in the Boston region detained a father and son restaurant owner duo from Massachusetts in connection with an alleged people smuggling business. The suspects are accused of using victims as forced labor at their restaurants.
The Justice Department has filed charges against Jesse James Moraes, 64, and Hugo Giovanni Moraes, 42, both of Woburn, for conspiring to encourage and induce an alien to come to, enter, and reside in the United States for commercial advantage or private financial gain.
Brazilian national Chelbe Willams Moraes is alleged to have charged clients between $18,000 and $22,000 to smuggle people across the border illegally from Brazil into the United States. Upon arriving in the United States, the migrants were allegedly put to work by Jesse Moraes and Hugo Moraes at their restaurants, Taste of Brazil—Tudo No Brasa and The Dog House Bar & Grill.
It has been claimed that they have had their earnings withheld in order to settle a smuggling debt.
The suspects’ asylum and work permit applications were allegedly supported by fraudulent documents sold by Marcos Chacon, 29.
According to CBS Boston’s interview with a worker at Taste of Brazil, they were not given any breaks and were required to work 14-hour days for a whole month.
In federal court on Tuesday, detainees Jesse Moraes, Hugo Moraes, and Marcos Chacon were brought in for a detention hearing.
