Hotel owner charged with human trafficking gets bail
Jai Inder Sandhu, 63, was granted release Wednesday afternoon by provincial court Judge Robert Heinrichs.
Details of the hearing cannot be disclosed owing to a publication ban.
Under terms of his bail, Sandhu is to live in Winnipeg, abide by a nightly curfew, have no contact with the four alleged victims or his co-accused wife, 48-year-old Satbir Sandhu, and surrender his passport.
Satbir Sandhu was released by police following the couple's arrest last month.
Jai Inder Sandhu is charged with four counts of trafficking in persons, two counts of uttering threats and single counts of trafficking, trafficking (material benefit) and withholding/destroying documents.
Satbir Sandhu is charged with four counts of trafficking in persons and one of trafficking (material benefit).
Investigators began looking into the hotel in the Rural Municipality of Portage la Prairie after Mounties were called to a disturbance there on Feb. 9, police said last month. Staff tipped off investigators about potential labour trafficking at the hotel.
Two women initially came forward, but as the probe continued, officers identified two additional hotel workers as potential victims.
Investigators discovered that three women and one man were promised legal work, fair wages and affordable living in Manitoba through labour market impact assessment agreements.
Instead, the victims worked 15-hour days and were paid well under minimum wage, with virtually no days off, police said following the couple's arrest.
The two accused are alleged to have threatened to deport the victims to keep them on the job. One victim had their identification documents withheld.
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca
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