Farrukh Baig, owner and operator of a string of 7-11 stores in New York and Virginia was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison for wire fraud and and concealing and harboring illegal immigrants.
Federal prosecutors said Mr. Baig along with his wife, two brothers and a another co-conspirator hired dozens of illegal aliens, equipped them with 25 stolen identities from United States citizens, housed them and then stole substantial portions of his workers’ wages. They called Mr. Baig the ringleader of the scheme.
The group docked millions in pay from the immigrants’ wages and then had them pay rent to the owners of the 7-Eleven stores, prosecutors said. Employees sometimes worked more than 100 hours per week, but were paid as if they had only worked for as little as 25 hours, according to the Attorney General’s office.
Baig was also forced to give up rights to 7-11 stores in New York and Virginia, his $1.3 million house and pay $2.6 million in back pay to his workers.
His wife, Bushra Baig, 51, pleaded guilty to harboring illegal aliens in September. She was sentenced to three months in prison, but was released on time served, according to Newsday.
Mr. Baig’s brothers — Zahid Baig, 52, of Chesapeake, Va. and Shannawaz Baig, 62, of Virginia Beach, Va. — along with co-defendant Malik Yousaf, 51, of South Setauket, also pleaded guilty. They had helped to “manage and control the stores,” prosecutors said.
