MALAYSIAN WOMAN ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH HUMAN TRAFFICKING  

(HOUSTON, TEXAS) - A criminal complaint charging a Malaysian woman for her role in the human trafficking of an Indonesian woman has been unsealed, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle and Acting Assistant Attorney General Rena J. Comisac, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice, announced today.

The federal criminal complaint, filed under seal on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007, accuses Rozina Ali, 42 of bringing an Indonesian woman to the United States to work as an domestic servant.  Once here, the 32-year-old Indonesian woman was allegedly not paid or underpaid by the defendant, worked excessive hours, was subjected to beatings and was told she could not return to Indonesia.

Rozina Ali, Sugarland, who was arrested by special agents of the FBI and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007, appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Frances H. Stacy today. The United States has sought to hold Ali in federal custody without bond pending further criminal proceedings.  A detention hearing will be held Friday, Sept. 14, 2007 at 2 p.m.

The complaint accuses Ali of confiscating, concealing or destroying immigration documents to maintain the labor or services of a 32-year-old Indonesian woman.  A conviction for this offense carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.  Ali is also accused of recruiting or harboring a person for forced labor, threatening serious bodily harm and engaging in a scheme to cause the victim to believe she would be subjected to serious bodily harm or physical restraint if she did not perform the labor.  Each of these two offenses carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine upon conviction. 

The criminal charges are the result of an investigation conducted by members of the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance in Houston, Texas, which includes the FBI, ICE,  the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the Houston Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Ruben R. Perez and trial attorney Jared Fishman, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice, will prosecute the case.

 

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