“Homeland Security Investigations special agents, in collaboration with IRS Criminal Investigation and other law enforcement agencies, are conducting federal search warrants at Fuyao Glass America and 27 other locations in the Dayton area as part of an ongoing criminal investigation,” Homeland Security officials said.
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Homeland Security Investigations Detroit Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey said the investigation is focused on money laundering, potential human smuggling, labor exploitation and financial crimes.
“As we speak, law enforcement is working diligently to identify victims to provide them with services and to gather evidence relevant to the investigation,” he said Friday afternoon.
Special agents from HSI, IRS Criminal Investigations, the FBI and hundreds of officers from state, county and local law enforcement agencies served the search warrants.
The goal was to gather facts so investigators can present a case in federal court, Murphey said.
“Generally, when bad actors engage in unfair labor practices they place profits over people and give themselves an unfair competitive advantage by exploiting workers and violating U.S. law,” he added. “When those law are broken, honest working people suffer, our communities suffer and our neighbors suffer.”
Murphey encouraged anyone with relevant information related to the investigation to call 1-877-4-HSI-TIP.
IRS Criminal Investigations Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge Karen Wingere said the investigative arm of the IRS is responsible for financial crime investigations, including violations of the internal revenue code — such as employment tax and other financial crimes — narcotics trafficking and money laundering.
In a recording taken inside the Fuyao plant and posted to Facebook, a Homeland Security agent was seen telling Fuyao workers that the company was not the target of the investigation at this time, and that there was no intention to arrest anyone at the plant Friday.
“We just need to need to talk with everybody to find out what they’ve seen, what’s happening and what they know,” the agent said.
He added: “We’re sorry for interrupting your day. We apologize. You probably just want to get to the end of your shift. We get it. We’re going to try to do that as fast as possible.”
Workers leaving Fuyao on Friday told the Dayton Daily News that they were told to bring all their belongings to the cafeteria and they were allowed to leave one by one.
Homeland Security officials said activities tied to the investigation were going on in Dayton, Liberty Township, Miamisburg, Moraine and West Carrollton but said there was “no threat to public safety” at that time.
A spokesperson for Congressman Mike Turner said, “Congressman Turner’s office was formally notified of the investigation by the Department of Homeland Security. Both the congressman and staff have been briefed about the ongoing investigation. As this is a pending criminal matter, the congressman’s office will not be making a comment at this time.”
Raids all across the Dayton region
The Dayton Daily News received a tip earlier this month raising questions about whether a staffing company was providing workers to Fuyao improperly. Much earlier, a Miami Twp. resident complained that as many as 25 men had moved into the home next to his, and were being ferried via 15-passenger vans to work various shifts at the plant.
* Around noon Friday, six men and one woman were sitting handcuffed outside a home in the 1100 block of Irving Avenue in Dayton. Police wearing Homeland Security and other departments’ gear were going in and out of the house.
* In the 3700 block of Waterbury Drive in Kettering, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers were seen going in and out of a house.
A neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said he was in his bedroom around 10:30 a.m. when he heard sirens.
“I thought it was just someone who got pulled over or whatever,” he said. “Then I heard, ‘FBI, open up. FBI, open up.’”
The neighbor said the response was unusual for the typically quiet neighborhood.
“There’s a lot of people that live in that house, so we didn’t know what was going on specifically,” he said.
* Investigators also responded to a house in the 2400 block of Fox Run Road in Miami Twp. A neighbor told a Dayton Daily News reporter said she frequently saw white vans coming to and from the house.
* Miamisburg police confirmed OSHP and Homeland Security investigators were in the 2200 block of East Central Avenue as part of the investigation. The structure used to be a business but is now empty, Lt. Will Ring said.
* Homeland Security agents were also in the 1800 block of Hoyle Place in Kettering, talking to a group of people outside a house.
Law enforcement at Fuyao
Back at Fuyao, multiple Ohio State Highway Patrol cruisers were blocking off the front and back of the plant off Kettering Boulevard and West Stroop Road Friday morning.
White vans were being removed from Fuyao by tow trucks. A mobile emergency EMA trailer arrived and a nonprofit was feeding people at Fuyao, according to a source on the scene.
Officials from the city of Moraine, where the Fuyao plant is located, said the city was not involved in what it called a Department of Homeland Security investigation.
“The city of Moraine is not involved in the operation and DHS did not request any operational support,” a city spokesperson said.
State Sen. Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg released a statement on X.
“I’m deeply concerned by today’s federal law enforcement action at Fuyao. Before I was elected, the State of Ohio, through JobsOhio, provided millions of dollars in incentives to Fuyao, understanding that American jobs would be created. I look forward to learning more about today,” he said.
Chinese-owned Fuyao Global bought part of what had been a closed General Motors plant in Moraine in 2014, reconfiguring it into what the company has said is the world’s largest auto glass production site.
Fuyao Global has said it is the second biggest glass manufacturer in the world and the largest in China.
In a November 2017 election, Fuyao workers resoundingly rejected the United Auto Workers’ attempt to represent the workers at its Moraine plant.
A spokeswoman for Fuyao, Lei Shi, declined to comment Friday.
Friday’s activities were at least the second time Homeland Security representatives have visited a Moraine manufacturer in seven months. In January, Moraine police confirmed search warrant activity at Harco Manufacturing, on Kettering Boulevard near Fuyao, saying they assisted with the investigation there.
