The probe into Magnolia Cleaning Services began in 2021, when authorities received a tip from one of the victims’ acquaintances. Court documents chronicle the chain of exploitation and abuse that investigators say they discovered at the laundry business.According to those documents, the owners and managers of Magnolia Cleaning Services recruited workers, often between the ages of 14 and 25, from Central America.
The workers were told their “smuggling fees” were a debt owed to the company, Stitzel said. They also had to pay rent for their lodging in the warehouse, which lacked air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter. Those accommodations were “deprived of basic housing needs, like a kitchen or shower facilities,” said Jessica Aber, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
“These business owners enriched themselves through this brutal enterprise using fraudulent identification documents and money laundering to falsify their wage records and just benefit themselves from the proceeds,” Aber added. “These individuals lied, manipulated and threatened their victims using fear to trap them in inhumane situations.”Fear was common among the workers, who were often told they’d be deported if they declined to work more hours, according to an indictment.