The Virginia-Pilot's
NORFOLK -- A California company has been charged with thwarting Virginia licensing laws by wiring cash for local migrant workers and illegal immigrants.
Federal prosecutors have charged 1st Union Transfer and Telegraph Inc. with illegal monetary transfers and seized $272,734 of the company's funds, according to court records.
The company is accused of wiring money from migrant workers and illegal immigrants in Hampton Roads to Mexico and other countries without obtaining a Virginia license. A court hearing has been scheduled for Friday, and the company faces a fine if convicted.
The transfers were conducted between March 2001 and June 2002 through small Latin or Mexican grocery stores in Norfolk, Chesapeake, Newport News and Elizabeth City, N.C. Those stores were not named in the court records, and they have not been charged.
Posted by Suzanne at February 25, 2003