A grand jury indicted a Metro Detroit restaurant owner earlier this week on federal charges, saying that he kept undocumented immigrants in suburban homes and shuttled them to work at his three Japanese steakhouses.
According to an unsealed indictment, Yong Ni, the owner of Kyoto Japanese Steakhouse outlets, is charged with ten federal offenses, including harboring and unlawfully hiring aliens and carrying a false immigrant visa.
Related posts
Ni was arrested and arraigned in federal court. Authorities said Ni owns residences in Shelby Township and Royal Oak, where officers discovered 28 individuals residing. Authorities discovered that seventeen of these individuals were unlawfully residing in the United States without work permission.
According to investigators, Ni hired these people to work in his restaurants and provided them with housing on his properties. They further claim Ni steered people without legitimate documents to other employees to get forged permanent residency and social security cards.
NI is accused of acquiring permanent residency without reporting a previous exclusion order from 1995, when he attempted to enter the US with a fraudulent passport. We will investigate and penalize employers who harbor illegal immigrants. These unscrupulous employers benefit from breaching the law. U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr. stated that they do so at the expense of American workers.
If convicted, NI faces up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Prosecutors said they could also seek to forfeit two homes and three vehicles seized during the investigation: a 2019 Toyota RAV4, a 2020 Chevrolet Express van, and a 2021 Honda Odyssey.
