US judge set to sentence Taiwan official over mistreated, underpaid Filipina maids

KANSAS CITY, Missouri—A federal judge in Kansas City is scheduled to sentence an official from Taiwan on a federal labor violation charge.

Jacqueline Liu, former director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Kansas City, pleaded guilty in November to fraud in foreign labor contracting. She admitted mistreating and underpaying two Philippine housekeepers in her Johnson County, Kansas, home.

US District Judge Greg Kays is scheduled to sentence Liu on Friday. A plea agreement asks that Liu be sentenced to time served and then deported. As part of the agreement, Liu also paid a total of about $80,000 in restitution to the two women who worked for her.

Prosecutors say they believe Liu is the first foreign official to be charged in the US with fraud in foreign labor contracting.