Bolaji Bolarinwa was found guilty of two counts of forced labor, one count of alien harboring for financial gain, and two counts of document servitude. Her husband, Isiaka Bolarinwa, was convicted of two counts of forced labor and one count of alien harboring for financial gain. They were both acquitted of a second count of alien harboring for financial gain.
The Bolarinwas, originally from Nigeria but living in Burlington County as U.S. citizens, recruited two women to come to the United States between December 2015 and October 2016. They coerced the women to perform domestic labor and childcare services through violence, threats of physical harm, isolation, constant surveillance, and psychological abuse.
Bolaji confiscated the first woman’s passport upon her arrival in December 2015. She coerced her to work every day, around-the-clock for nearly a year through threats of physical harm to her and her daughter, verbal abuse, isolation, and constant surveillance. Isiaka was aware of his wife’s threats and abusive behavior and directly benefited from the victim’s services.
A second woman was recruited on a student visa in April 2016. Bolaji took her passport and forced her to do household work and childcare, this time relying more heavily on physical abuse. Isiaka also physically abused her on at least one occasion.
The women lived and worked in the Bolarinwa home until October 2016, when the second woman contacted a professor at her college who reported the information to the FBI.
The victims’ current whereabouts were not disclosed.
U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger condemned the defendants’ actions, characterizing them as an “egregious bait-and-switch” and emphasizing that forced labor and human trafficking are “abhorrent crimes” that have no place in society.
