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Couple Jailed For Forcing Relative Into Working 17-Hour Days

By Hugh Fort in Crime and Fraud, posted June 28, 2024

A Virginia couple have been jailed for forcing one of their relatives to work at their gas station and convenience store for three years.

Harmanpreet Singh, 31, was sentenced to 135 months in prison and his former wife Kulbir Kaur, 43, was sentenced to 87 months in prison.

The court ordered Singh and Kaur to pay the victim $225,210.76 in restitution.

Following a two-week trial in January, a federal jury in the Eastern District of Virginia convicted Singh and Kaur of conspiracy to commit forced labor, forced labor, harboring for financial gain and document servitude.

The court heard how in 2018, the defendants enticed the victim, Singh’s cousin and then a minor, to travel to the United States from India with false promises of helping enroll him in school.

After he arrived, the couple - who are now divorced - took his immigration documents.

Instead of going to school, he was forced to provide labor and services at Singh’s store for over three years, between March 2018 and May 2021.

The evidence presented during the trial showed the boy was made to work at the store - including cleaning, cooking, stocking and handling the cash register and store records.

The jury heard how his days were between 12 and 17 hours long.

“These defendants preyed on the victim’s earnest desire to attain an education and improve his life"

Singh and Kaur subjected him to physical abuse, threats of force and other serious harm.

He was also made to live in disgusting living conditions.

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The couple forced their relative to sleep in a back office for days at a time, limited his access to food and refused access to medicine and education.

They also used surveillance equipment to monitor him at the store and at their home.

He asked for his immigration documents so he could return to India.

However, this was refused, which led to him overstaying his visa.

Worse still, he was made to marry Kaur.

That fake wedding was then used to threaten to take over his family's properties or falsely report him to the police.

The evidence showed Singh attacked him, pulling his hair and kicking him, when he asked for his documents.

Singh also threatened him with a revolver for trying to take a day off and then trying to leave.

“The crimes committed by these defendants are not merely violations of the law; they are an afront to humanity"

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said: “The defendants exploited their relationship with the victim to lure him to the United States with false promises that they would help enroll him in school."

"The defendants confiscated the victim’s immigration documents and subjected him to threats, physical force and mental abuse to coerce him to work long hours for minimal pay.

"This sentence should send a strong message that such forced labor will not be tolerated in our communities.

"The Justice Department is committed to fully enforcing our federal human trafficking statutes to vindicate the rights of survivors and hold human traffickers accountable for such shameful exploitation of vulnerable victims.”

U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia added: "

“The crimes committed by these defendants are not merely violations of the law; they are an afront to humanity.

“These defendants preyed on the victim’s earnest desire to attain an education and improve his life. Instead, they deprived him of the most basic human needs and robbed him of his freedom.

"We remain steadfastly committed to securing justice for victims of human trafficking.”

The FBI Richmond Field Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Avi Panth and Peter S. Duffey for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Matthew Thiman of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit prosecuted the case.

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