NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
February 12, 2008
Contact: Michele Nicholson
Public Information Officer
(850) 651-7420
JOINT TASK FORCE ARRESTS
NINE IN OKALOOSA COUNTY
Nine people were
arrested Tuesday as the result of an investigation by the Okaloosa County
Sheriff’s Office into the employment of illegal aliens at several area
businesses.
Members of a joint task
force conducted business compliance visits at three local restaurants suspected
of hiring illegal aliens and not complying with insurance rules.
In addition to
the arrests, the Worker’s Compensation Compliance office issued “Stop Work
Orders” to all three businesses: Panda China Buffet at 309 Miracle Strip Parkway
in Fort Walton Beach, Los Rancheros at 300 Eglin Parkway in Fort Walton Beach,
and JB’s Chinese Buffet at 5206 S. Ferdon Boulevard in Crestview.
Seven employees
of Los Rancheros were arrested for using social security numbers that either
belong to other persons or are counterfeit.
Those
arrested on charges of criminal use of personal identification information are:
A 17-year old
juvenile visiting a friend at Los Rancheros was picked up on an outstanding
warrant for failure to appear and is charged with providing a false name to a
law enforcement officer.
In addition, Shuy
Liang Dong of 308 Coral Drive, FWB, part-owner of Panda China Buffet, is charged
with burglary to an unoccupied structure and resisting arrest without violence.
Investigators say Dong ran from the restaurant when officers arrived, ignored
orders to stop, and tried to hide in a shed.
The investigation
at JB’s Buffet is ongoing.
Fourteen law
enforcement officers from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, Fort Walton
Beach Police Department, and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office took part in
the operation, along with three investigators from the Department of Financial
Services Workers Compensation Compliance Branch in Fort Walton Beach.
A stop work order
from the Compliance Branch means the business must close until the agency
conducts a follow-up investigation of insurance issues and approves re-opening.
Workers compensation violations may be handled as civil fines, or in certain
cases, prosecuted as fraud.
All foreign-born
subjects meantime will be reported to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
for follow-up.
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