Former Ridgefield restaurant owner pleads guilty to forced labor

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UPDATE 2/22: Teriyaki Thai in Ridgefield has been under new ownership since June 2016 according to information filed with the Washington State Department of Revenue. Records for the business then owned by Jumroon show the account expired Nov. 30, 2015 — a new account with the same business name opened June 1, 2016, but lists owners as Vilaivan LLC.

The former owner of Teriyaki Thai, a Ridgefield restaurant, has pled guilty in a federal court to charges of forced labor, visa fraud and failing to file a federal income tax return, the U.S. Department of Justice stated in a news release last week.

Paul Jumroon, also known as Veraphon Phatanakitjumroon, 54, of Depoe Bay, Oregon, and a naturalized citizen originally from Thailand, pleaded guilty Feb. 14 in a U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon, to the charge, the release stated. He ran the restaurant Teriyaki Thai in Ridgefield, located at the Interstate 5 junction.

According to the defendant’s plea agreement and admissions in court, between 2011 and 2014, the defendant and his associates fraudulently obtained E-2 visas to bring Thai nationals into the United States to provide cheap labor at his restaurants which included Teriyaki Thai as well as Curry in a Hurry in Lake Oswego, Oregon, according to the release. 

Those visas are granted to foreign nationals who invest substantial money in a U.S. business and direct its operations, and to employees who have special qualifications that make their services essential to that business.

Jumroon was able to entice four forced labor victims to come to the United States with the fraudulently obtained visas, the release stated, making false promises to them.

Court documents showed the first victim arrived in the United States in June 2012, and the second victim arrived in April 2013. Jumroon used a variety of tactics to compel laborers to forced work, the release stated, which involved 12-hour days for six or seven days a week for minimal pay which included threats of deportation, control over identification documents and serious financial and reputational harm among other means. The first two victims were able to leave their employer in October 2013 and 2014, respectively.



Jumroon agreed to pay all four victims a combined $131,392 as part of his guilty plea, paid out in restitution for their unpaid labor in connection with his forced labor scheme, according to the release.

Further admissions by Jumroon included filing multiple false tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service and failing to report cash income earned from his restaurants between 2012 and 2015, the release stated.  As part of the plea agreement, Jumroon agreed to pay tax due and owing in the amount of $120,384 to the IRS.

“Combating human trafficking is a priority for Attorney General Sessions and the Justice Department,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Gore of the Civil Rights Division stated in the release. “Securing a guilty plea today is just another example of this commitment and the work of the Civil Rights Division, in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, to hold those who choose to exploit vulnerable individuals accountable for their actions.”

Jumroon faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for forced labor, five years in prison for visa fraud conspiracy, and three years in prison for filing a false tax return, the release stated. His sentencing is scheduled for May 24 before United States District Judge Anna J. Brown.

Jumroon’s prosecution is the result of the joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, the release stated, with assistance from the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division and Portland Police Bureau.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The original version of this article had Jumroon listed as simply "owner" of Teriyaki Thai in Ridgefield — the article was corrected and updated to show Jumroon had formerly owned the establishment which came under new ownership in 2016.