Taiwanese official deported after abusing Filipinos

The United States has deported a high ranking Taiwanese official after she had plead guilty to human trafficking charges and mistreating two Filipino servants.

Hsien-Hsien “Jacqueline” Liu, 64, the director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Kansas City, Missouri, was deported on Wednesday, according to a US Department of Justice statement.

Liu, who has been in federal custody since her arrest on November 10, 2011, plead guilty to fraud in foreign labor contracting after fraudulently obtaining two Filipino servants for her residence.

She was sentenced in January and ordered to pay $80,044 restitution for the two victims.

Under the plea agreement, the US federal court sentenced Liu to time served, pay restitution, and cover the full costs of her incarceration and deportation.

According to the Department of Justice, the case came to light when one of the victims sought for help from a Filipino man she had met at a grocery store.

The victim claimed she was “trapped, being underpaid and mistreated,” according to the affidavit. The man helped the victim escape Liu’s residence and contacted authorities.

Liu, who pleaded guilty on November 18, 2011, admitted to authorities that she fraudulently entered into employment contracts with two Filipino housekeepers, whom she then brought to the US to work for her on B-1 visas.

With victim No. 1, Liu had agreed to pay her $1,240 per month to work 40 hours a week, eight hours a day.

But she admitted that she did not intend to comply with these terms. Authorities said that from March 6, 2011 to August 2011, contrary to the terms of the contract, Liu only paid victim No.1 $450 a month, required her to 16 to 18 hours per day, and made her work on weekends and holidays.

Liu had also set up surveillance cameras inside the residence to monitor the victim and did not allow her to leave the residence without supervision or permission.

Liu also admitted that she engaged in the same conduct with another employee, also a woman from the Philippines, whom Liu employed in 2009 2010, according to the affidavit.

Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the victims have received a T-visa, which allow them to legally live and work in the United States. Joseph Pimentel/AJPress