A Northern Virginia restaurant owner is facing federal charges for allegedly shielding his illegal-immigrant employees from detection.
Kiet Bui, who with his wife owns three Viet House restaurants in Virginia, was charged in U.S. District Court in Alexandria with harboring illegal aliens.
In court documents, prosecutors allege that Bui knowingly employed at least seven illegal immigrants and took steps to keep authorities from knowing about the workers.
Bui paid the workers in cash, did not keep payroll records for the employees and did not report the workers to the Virginia Employment Commission, the court documents allege.
Bui, of Centreville, declined to comment about the case on Friday.
Bui told authorities that he paid temporary employees in cash, and that the temporary workers were either fired or hired full-time after one week, court documents say.
Investigators examined one of the restaurant’s work schedules, and found that four of 10 employees were paid in cash.
Bui admitted that all four were illegal immigrants, and said about half of the workers at each of the restaurants were illegal aliens, court documents say.
Most workers the restaurant paid in cash and called temporary employees had worked at the restaurant for several years, authorities say.
Court documents also say that Bui had not filed a Form I-9 — the form that proves someone is authorized to work in the United States — for any of the employees who were paid in cash.
When authorities interviewed Bui at his restaurants, several workers fled the business and one tried to hide in a walk-in freezer, documents say.
Authorities say Bui admitted that “he had a problem with illegal workers, that he was aware he had paid illegal workers in cash, and that he knows he has not paid taxes on them,” according to court records.
Bui told investigators that “employing illegal workers is normal in the restaurant business and it is difficult to get legal workers.”
But he could not name another restaurant that employed illegal workers, court documents say.
Most illegal immigrant employees at the restaurant told investigators that they worked six days per week and 12 hours a day.
The three Viet House restaurants are located at 9966 Main St. in Fairfax, 11216 Lee Highway in Fairfax and 6226 Richmond Highway in Alexandria.
