A federal grand jury in Denver has indicted two men on human trafficking charges in a scheme that involved bringing in foreign nationals and then forcing them to work through threats and coercion.
One of the men, Kizzy Kalu, 47, of Highlands Ranch, was arrested on Sunday. He was arraigned on Thursday, and a judge allowed Kalu to be released on bond.
Prosecutors are appealing Kalu’s release.
The second man, Philip Langerman, 77, of McDonough, Ga., remained at large on Friday afternoon.
According to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Langerman told foreigners that a phony institution he called Adam University in Denver was looking for instructors with expertise in nursing.
Those positions, considered “specialty occupations” under immigration regulations, allowed Langerman to bring in the victims with H1B visas.
According to the scheme, Kalu operated a company called Foreign Healthcare Professional Group that recruited the victims on behalf of the university.
The men promised salaries between $68,000 and $72,000 annually.
Instead, the foreigners who arrived in Denver were employed by the Foreign Healthcare Professional Group at various long-term healthcare facilities where it had contracts to provide labor.
They victims were paid about 65 percent of normal wages for their work, and less than half of what they had been promised.
Foreigners were also charged a monthly fee, and were threatened with deportation if they did not follow orders.
The defendants face charges that include commercial carrier/mail fraud, Visa fraud, forced labor, attempted forced labor, trafficking in forced labor, money laundering, aiding and abetting, and criminal forfeiture.
If convicted they face up to 20 years per count, and fines of up to $500,000 depending on the count.
