SAN FRANCISCO – A San Francisco Italian Consulate employee and his wife have been charged with turning a Brazilian woman into an indentured servant after luring the woman to the United States with promises of a better life.
Investigators allege the couple withheld food from the woman and falsely told her that U.S. law didn't apply to them because they were diplomats.
Federal prosecutors charged 54-year-old Giuseppe Penzato and his 33-year-old wife, Kesia Penzato, with forced labor. The two were arrested Friday and released Monday on bond.
Giuseppe Penzato is an assistant at the consulate.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Kesia Penzato knew the woman, whose name was withheld, from when they were teenagers in Brazil.
Investigators say that after the woman arrived in San Francisco, Kesia Penzato derided her as ugly and suited only for servant's work. They allege the woman fled after Kesia Penzato choked her.
Attorneys for the couple wrote in court papers that the dispute "is nothing more than a civil wage and hour case brought by a scheming young woman" to facilitate her goal of living in the U.S.
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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com
