News
Embassy worker, husband indicted on forced labor charges
The 17-count indictment says Mervat Tolan, 52, and Nabil Talaat, 55, forced two Indonesian women who did household tasks and cared for their son to work long hours for little pay, took the women’s travel documents and threatened the women if they tried to leave. Talaat also sexually assaulted the women, according to the indictment.
Tolan and Talaat are Egyptian citizens and permanent legal residents in the United States. The alleged mistreatment happened while Tolan was working at the UAE embassy from March 2006 to March 2011, the indictment says.
The embassy had no comment on the case. No working phone number could be located for the couple, who are not in custody. No attorney was listed for them in court records.
“Forced labor is a modern form of indentured servitude,” U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride said. “This couple is accused of turning their home into a prison for their hired help, forcing them to engage in both hard labor and sexual conduct.”
The indictment says a woman identified as “S.S.” started working for the couple in March 2006. Her daughter, identified only as “N.C.,” started in October 2008.
Tolan and Talaat imposed rules on the workers “to exercise control over them, to isolate them, and to prevent them from making friends and obtaining assistance from anyone who might have helped them to escape,” according to the indictment.
The women were allowed to speak only Arabic, could not talk to neighbors, and could not leave the house unaccompanied, the indictment says. The couple also told the women that if they left the house, they would be jailed.
The indictment says Talaat forced S.S. to give him massages while he was naked. Talaat also exposed himself to N.C., tried to grope her and forced her to perform oral sex, according to the indictment.
S.S. was required to work 15 hours a day, seven days a week. N.C. was forced to work at least 13 hours a day, the indictment alleges.
Many allegations of abuse of domestic servants by diplomats have surfaced in the region in recent years, but criminal charges are relatively rare.
By Emily Babay