Saker sushi

• A Phoenix-area sushi restaurant owner was arrested on federal charges of harboring and employing undocumented immigrants.
• Yung Lau is accused of housing around 25 undocumented workers in properties he owned across the East Valley.
• An investigation began after a Homeland Security agent observed unusual employee behavior at one of the restaurants.

The owner of several Phoenix area sushi restaurants was arrested Dec.

10 on federal charges of harboring and employing undocumented immigrants.

Yung Lau was accused of harboring about 25 undocumented immigrants in "stash houses" across Gilbert, Mesa, Scottsdale and Tempe, according to court documents.

Lau had full or partial ownership of three Sakura Sushi restaurants in Phoenix, Mesa and Gilbert and an Akita Sushi in Scottsdale, where he was accused of employing several undocumented people, according to court documents.

According to officials, workers are believed to have been paid below minimum wage and no overtime.

Local law enforcement was reportedly alerted to suspicious activity in 2023 and 2024, including the use of vans transporting people.

Thirty-one people were arrested earlier this month at multiple locations, including Lau.

Court documents say Lau admitted to knowingly hiring undocumented workers, housing them, and paying them in cash because “it was hard to find workers.”

It is also alleged that Lau utilized a recruitment network extending into Mexico and Central America for multiple years.

A major federal investigation has shut down multiple East Valley sushi restaurants and landed their owner and two managers in federal custody.

Authorities say in a federal complaint that Yung Lau, the owner of three Sakura Sushi locations in Mesa, Gilbert and Ahwatukee and one Akita Sushi restaurant in Scottsdale, is accused of orchestrating an illegal labor operation involving dozens of undocumented workers.

Investigators allege Lau housed the workers, paid them cash under the table, and required them to work well beyond 40 hours a week.

HSI agents executed coordinated search warrants on Dec. 10 at four sushi restaurants and four homes across the East Valley. However, when he was confronted with the lack of documents for the undocumented workers, he admitted that he had employees illegally working for him, according to court documents.

The Mesa Sakura Sushi, Gilbert Sakura Sushi and Akita Sushi were listed as "temporarily closed" on Google.

Tabor Cook, a Tempe neighbor, said workers were routinely transported in vans and entered homes through side gates rather than front doors.

“They would just line up here in single file in a van, and just go inside and go outside,” Cook said

HSI says more than 30 undocumented workers were involved in the operation.

When he tried to ask her a question, she did not respond, and one of the Chinese employees answered the question, according to court documents.

HSI's investigation revealed that the majority of Hispanic employees who worked at the sushi restaurants were not listed in the Arizona employment databases. He faces one count of harboring and one count of a pattern and practice of knowingly employing undocumented immigrants.

Have any news tips or story ideas about immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona?

“They were just trying to make a living for themselves,” Gallagher said. Some workers were reportedly paid in cash. Reach the reporter atdavid.ulloa@usatodayco.com.Follow him on X, formerly Twitter,@davidulloa_ii.

PHOENIX - A Phoenix-area restaurant owner is facing federal charges for allegedly running a human trafficking operation to staff his businesses.

What we know:

Yung Lau, who has ownership stakes in Sakura Sushi locations in Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale and Gilbert, was arrested as part of a homeland security investigation into alleged human trafficking.

Dig deeper:

According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court, Lau used a recruitment network in Mexico and Central America to find workers, paying them in cash and often below minimum wage.

"Yung Lau engaged in a pattern and practice of hiring for employment and continuing to employ, aliens in the United States, knowing the aliens were and had become unauthorized with respect to such employment," read a portion of the court documents.

On Dec.

11, Lau was interviewed by Homeland Security where he allegedly admitted to hiring and housing undocumented immigrants because "It was hard to find workers to do the jobs he needed."

Lau is accused of harboring illegal aliens and a pattern and practice of knowingly employing unauthorized aliens, the complaint read.

PHOENIX — A federal investigation is underway into a Phoenix restaurant owner accused of harboring undocumented immigrants and employing them in a “sophisticated operation” across the Valley.

According to a federal court filing, Yung Lau, the owner of multiple sushi restaurants, is accused of human trafficking and knowingly employing people who are not citizens of the United States.

Lau has at least partial ownership of Sakura Sushi locations in Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale, and Gilbert.

Court documents show that undocumented workers were living in “stash houses” in the East Valley.

“But when you’re illegal, that’s a crime. HSI is a division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement that investigates cases of human trafficking, among other immigration-related crimes.

Homeland Security Investigations began investigating the four restaurants in March, according to court documents.

HSI Special Agent Justin Cowan had noticed that the Hispanic employees of the Phoenix Sakura restaurant had limited interactions with the restaurant's customers as they followed the instructions of the Chinese employees.

Cowan saw a young Hispanic female who came to bus his table avoided eye contact and did not interact with him.

The homes, located in Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale and Gilbert, were described by investigators as “stash houses,” where undocumented workers allegedly lived rent-free in properties paid for by Lau.

Video captured by a Mesa neighbor near Gilbert and Southern roads shows multiple people being removed from a home and taken into ICE custody. The Phoenix Sakura Sushi in Ahwatukee was listed as open.

The Arizona Republic left a message at the Phoenix restaurant requesting a comment from the owner and the owner's attorney.

“You’d see them in vans early in the morning getting in, and then late at night they’d come back in the van.”

According to court records, the homes were crowded, with curtains lining the interiors and multiple people living in single rooms. All were taken into federal custody during the enforcement action.

12News attempted to reach Sakura Sushi management for comment but was unsuccessful.

Lau also owned the Tempe, Gilbert and Mesa stash houses, according to court documents.

Lau told investigators he hired undocumented workers because "it was hard to find workers to the jobs he needed," according to court documents.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. A worker inside the lone restaurant still open in Ahwatukee said she did not know Lau’s whereabouts at the time.

Neighbors who witnessed the activity said they were relieved that the alleged operation had been dismantled.

“Jobs are for Americans here,” Cook said.