South Bay Couple Arrested On Suspicion Of Human Trafficking

GILROY — A Gilroy couple was arrested Monday on suspicion of human trafficking among other criminal charges for the alleged mistreatment of employees at two stores in the South Bay city, authorities said.

The arrests of Amarjit and Balwinder Mann, both 66, were announced Monday by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) and Santa Clara County District Attorney.

The arrests came after an investigation into the couple's two stores in Gilroy — M&M Liquors at 7901 Westwood Drive, and Gavilan Market at 8110 Westwood Drive.

The couple is accused of locking a man in a liquor store, where he worked 15-hour shifts, seven days a week, slept in a storage room, bathed in a mop bucket, and was never paid.

The Manns face charges of labor human trafficking, witness intimidation, and wage theft involving a total of four victims.

If convicted of the felonies, they could face prison time.

“Slavery officially was abolished in 1865,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement.

“Tragically, we are seeing examples of it in 2020. My Office will prosecute anyone to the fullest extent of the law who practices this kind of criminal and inhumane exploitation.”

An investigation estimates that the suspects – who own a profitable liquor store and market - had stolen more than $150,000 in wages from the victim and three other employees, prosecutors said.

"The Manns engaged in predatory recruitment of their workers from India and lured them with promises of travel and financial independence," the DA's Office said in a statement.

In late February 2020, an Alcoholic Beverage Control inspection discovered the victim at M&M Liquors located on Westwood Drive in Gilroy, prosecutors said.

The agent contacted a man who appeared to be living in a small storage room in the back area of the store – a tell-tale sign of human trafficking according to prosecutors.

Agents noted a thin mattress lying over milk crates, an office desk contained folded clothes in each drawer.

On top of the desk there were pots and pans for cooking, and next to the desk there was a mop sink with a faucet approximately three feet off the ground and a shampoo bottle.

Investigators later learned the victim was bathing from the mop sink.

The investigation further concluded that the man had flown from India in 2019 expecting to travel to the U.S. with the couple. Instead they took his money and passport and put him to work without pay or a key to leave the liquor store at night.

Three other men – two who worked at the liquor store and one who worked at the market across the street - told agents that they worked marathon hours and were paid a pittance.
One said he had no idea about the concept of a minimum wage.

The United States State Department, Department of Diplomatic Security, the San Jose Police Department, the Gilroy Police Department, and the South Bay Coalition to end Human Trafficking assisted in the investigation of this case.

— Bay City News contributed to this report