HONOLULU — A federal judge dismissed human-trafficking charges Friday against executives and business associates of a labor-recruiting company accused of exploiting hundreds of farm workers from Thailand by putting them into debt, confiscating their passports and threatening to deport them.
The move came after prosecutors requested dismissal of the case against Chief Executive Officer Mordechai Orian and Director of International Relations Pranee Tubchumpol of Global Horizons Manpower Inc., and business associates.
Eight defendants were originally indicted and three later pleaded guilty.
Authorities accused the Los Angeles-based company of manipulating 600 Thai workers it placed on farms across the United States. It was the U.S. government’s largest-ever human-trafficking case.
Orian’s trial had been set to take place in Honolulu next month, but the case was in jeopardy after federal prosecutors abruptly dropped similar accusations against owners of Hawaii’s Aloun Farms last year.
Front Section, Pages 11 on 07/22/2012