The owners of a Kapolei farm known for supplying a rich variety of Asian vegetables, melons and other produce to the state's largest wholesalers and grocers have been indicted on charges alleging the forced labor of 44 Thai nationals brought to Hawai'i under a federal agricultural guest-worker program.

Alec Souphone Sou, president and general manager of Aloun Farms, and Mike Mankone Sou, vice president and operations manager, are accused of conspiracy to commit forced labor, visa fraud and document servitude during the period of April 2003 through February 2005. The brothers face maximum sentences of 15 years in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

During their initial appearance yesterday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu, the Sous entered not-guilty pleas and U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang ordered them released after each posts a $100,000 bond. Chang set a tentative trial date of Oct. 28, but that is expected to be pushed back to next year.

Howard Luke, attorney for Alec Sou, declined to comment on the allegations contained in the indictment. Mike Sou was represented at the hearing by federal Public Defender Matthew Winter, who said Sou likely will be obtaining private counsel.

Also indicted was Thai labor recruiter William Khoo, who is charged with conspiring to commit forced labor and visa fraud, and faces a maximum 10-year prison term. Khoo was not present in court yesterday, and his whereabouts were not immediately known.

Another man charged separately in the case who is cooperating with federal prosecutors, Matee Chowsanitphon, 55, pleaded guilty to a single count of visa fraud and will be sentenced early next year. Chowsanitphon was born in Thailand but is now a U.S. citizen living in California, according to Susan French, an attorney with the Justice Department's Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit. She said Chowsanitphon acted as a middleman between Khoo and Aloun Farms.

Aloun Farms, also known for its family-oriented pumpkin patch, is the second-largest diversified fruit and vegetable farm in the state, with annual gross sales of about $8 million. The company farms approximately 3,000 acres, employs 150 to 200 workers and is active in the 'Ewa and Central O'ahu community, providing educational tours and supporting the Future Farmers of America program.

'FALSE PROMISES'

The indictment, filed Thursday, said Alec and Mike Sou and Khoo conspired to obtain "cheap and compliant labor" by using "false promises" of lucrative jobs at the Kapolei business to entice impoverished rural farm workers in Thailand who were forced to pay recruitment fees of up to $22,500, money that was pocketed by the defendants. Unable to pay the high fees, the workers were told to borrow the money at high interest rates from a bank affiliated with the recruiting companies, according to the indictment.

Once in Hawai'i, Aloun Farms officials allegedly confiscated the workers' passports and strictly controlled their movements. The workers were told that if they ran away or complained, they would be sent back to Thailand and bring financial ruin on their families, according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges that Alec Sou met with Khoo in Thailand in April 2003 to enter into a business venture to bring Thai nationals to work at Aloun Farms under the U.S. Department of Labor's H-2A visa program for seasonal and temporary workers. Khoo is employed by Thai Taipei Manpower Co. Ltd. and is a partner in Udon NT Union Manpower Co., which works closely with recruiting company K.S. Manpower Supply Co. Ltd. in Bangkok.

The H-2A program allows agricultural employers to bring foreign workers to the United States to perform temporary or seasonal farm labor if the employers report there are not sufficient workers available.

The Thai laborers, who were earning about $1,000 a year at home, reportedly were offered three- to four-year employment contracts with pay of $9.60 an hour. But first they had to fork over a $10,000 recruitment fee. Since the poor workers were unable to pay the fee, they were referred to Krungsri Ayudhya Ltd. Bank to obtain loans using family homes and farmland as collateral, according to the indictment.

$1 MILLION THREATS

After signing contracts with Aloun Farms, the workers were directed to report to the Udon NT Union Manpower Co. office in Bangkok to pay an additional $5,000 to $12,500 in cash. At that time, the workers were told that if they defaulted on the $10,000 bank loan, their families would owe at least $1 million in penalties.

Federal prosecutors said the defendants agreed to a recruiting fee kickback scheme in which Khoo and the recruiting companies received $8,000 per worker, Aloun Farms pocketed $2,500 per worker, and Chowsanitphon got $5,500.

In order to obtain the guest-worker visas, Mike Sou allegedly submitted false statements in March 2004 to the U.S. Department of Labor attesting that Aloun Farms needed 50 workers who would be paid $9.60 an hour to work six days a week, eight hours a day, from May 1 through Nov. 30, 2004.

$5 TO $6 AN HOUR

Upon their arrival in Hawai'i in September 2004, the 44 Thai nationals were told by the defendants that their contracts were "a lie and just a piece of paper used to deceive the U.S. government," the indictment said. The workers were informed they would be paid only $5 to $6 an hour, and, after deductions for housing, meals and loan payments, the men reportedly were left with little or no pay.

Federal prosecutors said the Thai nationals were housed in a two-story home in Wai'anae surrounded by a chain-link fence and concrete wall secured by a locked gate. Eleven of the workers later were moved to remote storage containers with no air conditioning or indoor plumbing. According to the indictment, the men were told not to socialize with "outsiders" and were escorted to and from work and public facilities.

Aloun Farms was founded by the Sou family, who themselves were immigrants from Laos via a refugee camp on the Thailand-Laos border. The family settled in Wai'anae in 1977 and began with a farm of 5 acres of leased land in the Lualualei Valley.

While many Hawai'i agricultural interests large and small hire guest farm workers properly and without incident, there have been problems with some companies that recruit laborers under the H-2A program.

In an unrelated case, the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations ordered Global Horizons Inc. of California to cease its Hawai'i operations in 2006 after failing to provide workers' compensation coverage to at least 102 immigrant laborers, primarily from Thailand, working at 10 farms across the state. Inspection of Global's farm camps resulted in citations for violations ranging from unsafe living conditions to inadequate safety and health management systems.

The state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations inspected working conditions at Aloun Farms in 2007 but found no violations, according to agency spokesman Ryan Markham. He said the state is not conducting its own investigation into the allegations contained in the federal indictment but will cooperate, if needed, with federal authorities.

The Pacific Resource Partnership, an advocacy group for unionized labor, yesterday applauded the Justice Department for "holding those companies that engage in such criminal activities accountable for their actions."

Partnership executive director Kyle Chock noted the potential for exploitation of immigrant workers "and the harm that these unlawful acts have on our community and the economy."