Posted on 06/23/2009 8:00:43 PM PDT by nickcarraway
An owner of the local Thai Ginger restaurant chain was arrested Tuesday morning and is due to appear in federal court in Seattle on various immigration-related charges for allegedly arranging “sham marriages.”
In an indictment unsealed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Varee Bradford, who operates the Thai Ginger restaurants, and Porramin Tangchaiwanna, known as “Golf,” were charged with conspiracy to commit immigration fraud. Bradford was charged with several additional counts of fraud relating to immigration documents.
According to the indictment, the two offered to pay employees of Thai Ginger $15,000 to $25,000 to enter into sham marriages with Thai nationals to help them obtain permanent resident status in the U.S.
Some of the Thai nationals involved were relatives of Varee Bradford, the indictment states. The alleged sham marriages and related immigration filings and transactions occurred between 2001 and this year.
Thai Ginger has restaurants in Seattle’s Pacific Place, Redmond Town Center, Issaquah, and Factoria in Bellevue, according to its website.
An employee who answered the phone at Thai Ginger’s Redmond office said Michael Bradford, the husband of Varee Bradford and co-owner of Thai Ginger, was handling press inquiries. Michael Bradford did not immediately return the phone call.
Hilarious....I’ve had business lunches a few times at the one in Pacific Place.
>>Hilarious....I’ve had business lunches a few times at the one in Pacific Place.<<
Well, did you get a marriage with your Curried Duck?
Would you like a wife with that?
Oh no — take my wife, please!
I’ve been to the Pacific Place location, once, but the Factoria location quite a few times. I LOVE their Tiger Tearless (dinner menu only).
got Thai?
ping
Yeah, but an hour later you are single.
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