UAE officer charged with Filipina maid abuse nabbed in New York

Associated Press First Posted 14:31:00 04/13/2011

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island—A military officer from the United Arab Emirates accused of keeping an unpaid Filipina servant while attending the Naval War College in Rhode Island has been arrested by federal officials after he boarded an international flight in New York City.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Colonel Arif Mohamed Saeed Mohamed Al-Ali at John F. Kennedy International Airport late Monday night after he and his family boarded a nonstop flight to their home country, said Jim Martin, a spokesman for the US attorney's office in Rhode Island. Al-Ali was held overnight in New York.

The naval officer pleaded not guilty last week to charges he lured the Filipina to the United States, then failed to pay her and kept her confined in his house.

A federal judge in New York ordered that Al-Ali appear in US District Court in Rhode Island on Wednesday and released him, on $100,000 unsecured bond, into the custody of three countrymen, including a diplomatic attaché and another colonel in the Emirati military, Martin said. The judge ordered Al-Ali equipped with a tracking device, he said.

Al-Ali's wife and five children got off the plane when he was detained, but it's unclear what they did after that, Martin said.

Al-Ali's name was flagged by US Customs and Border Protection, which caught the attention of an ICE agent, according to the order of removal to Rhode Island issued Tuesday. The order says authorities in New York received an arrest warrant from a judge in Rhode Island charging that Al-Ali had violated the terms of his pre-trial release.

Prosecutors say Al-Ali hired the Filipina to work for him as a housemaid but didn't pay her as promised, took away her passport, forced her to work seven days a week—often until midnight—and refused to let her leave the family's East Greenwich house alone or talk to anybody outside his family. The woman ultimately escaped and now is in hiding, according to prosecutors.

Authorities have not identified the Filipina, but a lawsuit brought against Al-Ali and his wife on the woman's behalf Tuesday identifies her as Elizabeth Cabitla Ballesteros. The lawsuit—brought by lawyers with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a civil rights group—alleges human-trafficking violations.

A lawyer for Ballesteros, Ivy O. Suriyopas, says the woman is in her 30s. Ballesteros has been cooperating with authorities since her escape last October and is in a safe place, Suriyopas said, though she declined to elaborate on her client's whereabouts.

The lawsuit, which seeks unpaid wages and damages, alleges that Ballesteros was contracted to care for Al-Ali's youngest child. It claims Al-Ali sent occasional payments—totaling less than $410 over the course of 2 1/2 months—to her family in the Philippines.

Al-Ali's attorneys did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment Tuesday.

A magistrate judge ordered the naval officer released after his arraignment last week and restricted his travel to Rhode Island, except for trips tied to his studies at the war college, where he has been studying since last summer. His program ends on June 10, and a judge is set to decide on how to handle the case after his visa expires. The war college is a Navy-run institution that provides graduate-level education to US and foreign military services.

The outcome of the case against Al-Ali will determine whether he can remain a student at the war college, said Cmdr. Carla McCarthy, a spokeswoman for the college.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12980760

5 April 2011 Last updated at 18:24 ET

UAE officer charged in US with fraud in employment case

A military officer from the United Arab Emirates has been accused of luring a Filipina servant to the US and keeping her in virtual slavery.

Col Arif al-Ali, a student at the US Naval War College in Rhode Island, took the woman's passport, failed to pay her and kept her confined to his house, prosecutors said.

He is charged with fraud and falsely telling federal investigators he had paid her.

He pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.

'Forbidden to leave'

Col al-Ali, 46, brought the woman to the US as a household servant for himself, his wife and five children, promising her $10 (£6.14) per hour for 40 hours of work a week, Assistant US Attorney Mary Rogers said.

Instead, he forced her to work seven days a week, often until midnight, without pay and refused to let her talk to anyone outside the family or to leave the house on her own, Ms Rogers said.

The woman, who has not been identified, escaped and is now in hiding, prosecutors said.

When confronted by investigators in February, Col al-Ali produced a document indicating he had paid the woman $19,000. Investigators found no evidence he had made the payments, officials said.

Col al-Ali's lawyer Victoria Walton put the discrepancy down to a misunderstanding and to a language barrier.

Each felony count carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Col al-Ali was released pending trial in July and told he must continue studies at the Naval War College, a US government institution in Newport, Rhode Island, that trains US and foreign naval personnel.

He was ordered to restrict his movements to the state of Rhode Island unless he needs to travel for his studies, which are to conclude on 10 June.