Bolaji Bolarinwa, Forced Labor, New Jersey 2024

Burlington County Couple Convicted of Forced Labor and Other Federal Crimes

Date: March 12, 2024

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Burlington County, New Jersey, couple was convicted today of forced labor and other crimes related to their coercive scheme to compel two victims to perform domestic labor and childcare in their home, harbor the victims knowing that they were unlawfully present in the United States and unlawfully confiscate the victims’ passports.

Bolaji Bolarinwa, 50, was found guilty of two counts of forced labor, one count of alien harboring for financial gain and two counts of document servitude following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams in Camden federal court. The jury also convicted Isiaka Bolarinwa, 67, of two counts of forced labor and one count of alien harboring for financial gain. The defendants were each acquitted of a second count of alien harboring for financial gain.

“These defendants engaged in an egregious bait-and-switch, luring the victims with false promises of a life and an education in the United States, and instead subjected them to grueling hours, physical abuse and psychological abuse,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.

“The defendants exploited the victims’ trust and then inflicted physical and mental abuse against them, all so they could keep the victims working for their profit,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said.

According to documents filed in this case and the evidence at trial, Bolaji and Isiaka Bolarinwa recruited two victims to come to the United States and then coerced them to perform domestic labor and childcare services for their children through physical harm, threats of physical harm, isolation, constant surveillance and psychological abuse.

The Bolarinwas are scheduled to be sentenced on May 14, 2024.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Newark Field Office and is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.

MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS

Human Trafficking

Pedro Silva Segura, Conspiracy to Transport Undocumented Aliens Resulting in Death, Texas 2017

Mar 8, 2018

Human Trafficking

M. Deav, Mysterious Disappearance, Texas 1922

Jul 15, 1922

Human Trafficking

Fermín Montilla, Bringing Aliens to U.S. at Undesignated Port, Puerto Rico, 2022

Sep 13, 2024

Human Trafficking

Elin Coello-Ordonez, Human Trafficking, Virginia 2013

Apr 8, 2015