ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — The owner of a Cartersville flooring manufacturer and two others are facing federal charges in a forced labor scheme, prosecutors announced Wednesday. Zhu Chen, the owner of Wellmade Industries, his nephew Jiayi Chen and their associate Jianjun Lu are accused of recruiting Chinese nationals through false pretenses to enter the U.S. on B-1 and L-1 visas to work at the factory, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia. When the workers arrived, the defendants allegedly made them work 12-hour shifts six days a week in unsafe conditions, paid them less than promised and threatened them with violence, deportation and crippling debt if they stopped working at Wellmade Industries. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Federal, local agencies investigating labor trafficking allegations at Bartow County manufacturer The men also housed workers in homes owned by the company, despite knowing they did not have legal status in the U.S., according to prosecutors, who described the homes as “overcrowded and dirty.” Zhu Chen, 60, and Jiayi Chen, 31, both of Cartersville, and Jianjun Lu, a 55-year-old Chinese national, were indicted Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to commit forced labor and forced labor. Zhu Chen was also charged with alien harboring. If convicted, the men face up to 20 years in prison. “The defendants allegedly threatened foreign workers with physical violence, deportation, and crippling debt; forced them to work lengthy…
*This content (including text, artwork, graphics, photography, and video) was provided by the third party(ies) as referenced above. Any rights or other content questions or inquiries should be directed to such third-party provider(s).
