Financial Fraud: Tanya Jumroon Pleads Guilty in Forced Labor and Visa Fraud Scheme

<h2>Oregon Woman Pleads Guilty for Role in Forced Labor and Visa Fraud Scheme Involving Thai Restaurant Workers<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p><strong>Defendant financially benefited from co-defendant’s use of debts&comma; fraud&comma; threats of financial and reputational harm&comma; and other means to compel victims to work at restaurants<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-content-ad"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js&quest;client&equals;ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; crossorigin&equals;"anonymous"><&sol;script>&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;"&NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1081854981"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>WASHINGTON – Tanya Jumroon&comma; also known as Thunyarax Phatanakit Jumroon&comma; 59&comma; of Beaverton&comma; Oregon&comma; and a naturalized citizen originally from Thailand&comma; pleaded guilty today in a U&period;S&period; District Court in Portland&comma; Oregon&comma; to financially benefitting from forced labor&comma; visa fraud conspiracy&comma; and filing a false federal income tax return&comma; announced Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division&comma; U&period;S&period; Attorney Billy J&period; Williams of the District of Oregon&comma; Special Agent in Charge Renn Cannon of the FBI in Oregon&comma; and Special Agent in Charge Darrell Waldon of Internal Revenue Service &lpar;IRS&rpar; Criminal Investigation’s Seattle Field Office&period; Jumroon waived indictment by a federal grand jury and pleaded guilty to an information filed by the United States Attorney’s Office and the Civil Rights Division&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to the defendant’s plea agreement&comma; admissions in court&comma; and other court documents&comma; between 2011 and 2014&comma; the defendant&comma; her then-husband&comma; Paul Jumroon&comma; and other associates fraudulently obtained E-2 visas to bring Thai nationals into the United States to provide cheap labor at two restaurants located in Lake Oswego&comma; Oregon&comma; and Ridgefield&comma; Washington&period; The restaurants were owned and operated by the defendant and Jumroon at the time&comma; but have since been sold and are under new ownership&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Paul Jumroon used the fraudulently obtained E-2 visas to entice four forced labor victims to come to the United States from Thailand&period; After the victims arrived&comma; Jumroon used inflated travel expenses&comma; debt manipulation&comma; threats of deportation&comma; serious <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;tag&sol;financial-fraud&sol;amp&sol;" title&equals;"financial" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"855">financial<&sol;a> and reputational harm&comma; verbal abuse&comma; and control over identification documents&comma; among other means&comma; to compel them to work 12 hours a day&comma; six to seven days a week&comma; for minimal pay at the restaurants he co-owned and operated with the defendant&period; The defendant witnessed Paul Jumroon’s mistreatment of two of the victims&comma; and she benefitted financially from the victims’ forced labor at the restaurants&period; As part of the defendant’s guilty plea&comma; she agreed to pay the four victims a combined &dollar;131&comma;391&period;95 in restitution for their unpaid labor in connection with the forced labor scheme&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The defendant further admitted to filing multiple false tax returns with the IRS by failing to report cash income earned from the restaurants between 2012 and 2015&period; As part of the plea agreement&comma; the defendant agreed to pay tax due and owing in the amount of &dollar;120&comma;384 to the IRS&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The Justice Department remains committed to combatting human trafficking&comma; holding those who choose to exploit vulnerable individuals accountable&comma; punishing those who profit from these crimes&comma; and securing restitution for exploited victims” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Gore of the Civil Rights Division&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Today’s guilty plea exemplifies the hard work of the Civil Rights Division&comma; in coordination with the U&period;S&period; Attorney’s Office&comma; to honor that commitment&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Human trafficking schemes are seldom carried out by a single person&period; Tanya Jumroon profited off of her then-husband’s actions while turning a blind eye&comma;” said Billy J&period; Williams&comma; U&period;S&period; Attorney for the District of Oregon&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;In too many of these cases&comma; we later learn that someone close by could have taken action to stop the abuse and intimidation of others and did not&period; I implore all Oregonians to remain vigilant and watch for the signs of human trafficking in their communities&period; Your attention and perceptiveness could help a victim in need&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;These victims believed the Jumroons were offering them a chance at a better life&period; When they arrived in the U&period;S&period;&comma; however&comma; they faced false promises&comma; forced labor and abuse&period; Victims such as these often live in the shadows and find it difficult to get the help they need&period; We are grateful for the community members who were able to bring this case to our attention so we could work together to bring an end to the physical&comma; psychological and financial exploitation&comma;&&num;8221&semi; said Renn Cannon&comma; Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Forced labor schemes&comma; such as the one employed by the Jumroons&comma; are deplorable crimes that have no place in today’s society&comma;” said Darrell Waldon&comma; Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Seattle Field Office&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Falsely reporting income and expenses associated with such schemes will continue to be vigorously investigated by IRS-CI Special Agents&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The defendant faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for financially benefitting from forced labor&comma; five years in prison for visa fraud conspiracy&comma; and three years in prison for filing a false tax return&period; Her sentencing is scheduled for Oct&period; 24 before United States District Judge Anna J&period; Brown&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Co-defendant Paul Jumroon previously pleaded guilty on Feb&period; 14 to forced labor&comma; visa fraud conspiracy&comma; and filing a false federal income tax return&period; His sentencing is scheduled for Oct&period; 18&comma; also before Judge Brown&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Attorney General Sessions issued a proclamation on January 31 commemorating January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The District of Oregon is one of six districts designated through a competitive&comma; nationwide selection process as a Phase II Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team &lpar;ACTeam&rpar;&comma; through the interagency ACTeam Initiative of the Departments of Justice&comma; Homeland Security and Labor&period; ACTeams focus on developing high-impact human trafficking investigations and prosecutions involving forced labor&comma; international sex trafficking and sex trafficking by force&comma; fraud or coercion through interagency collaboration among federal prosecutors and federal investigative agencies&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This prosecution is the result of the joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation&comma; Homeland Security Investigations&comma; Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service&comma; with assistance from the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and Portland Police Bureau&period; The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U&period;S&period; Attorneys Hannah Horsley and Scott Bradford of the District of Oregon&comma; and Lindsey Roberson of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;usao-or&sol;pr&sol;oregon-woman-pleads-guilty-role-forced-labor-and-visa-fraud-scheme-involving-thai">Original PressReleases&&num;8230&semi;<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;

Financial FraudHuman Trafficking