Federal authorities have filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking over $126 million in assets linked to an alleged illegal staffing and money laundering operation involving factories in the Dayton area, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio announced Monday.
In July 2024, federal agents executed search warrants at Fuyao Glass America in Moraine and 27 other locations across the region. According to court documents, the suspects created nearly 40 business entities—referred to as “target entities”—to illegally transport, harbor, and employ noncitizens at various factory sites, including Fuyao.
Many of the workers were reportedly smuggled into the U.S. via Mexico and then recruited to work in Dayton-area factories under these target entities. Authorities said most of the laborers were of Chinese or Hispanic descent, lived in boarding houses owned by the target companies, and were driven to job sites using transportation arranged by those entities.
