14 DAY TRIAL // 39-year-old millionaire socialite Annie George from New York is on trial for keeping her maid as a slave.
According to CBS 6 Albany, Valsamma Mathai, an illegal immigrant of Indian descent, was already working with a family in the area when she was approached in a NYC bus stop by a man who promised her he could get her better employment.
He also spoke to her about marriage, and the opportunity for her to help her sons in India. She left her other job and begun her work with George.
When she met the George family, she was told she would be paid $1,000 (€767) per month. International Business Times details that she would only receive $0.85 (€0.65) an hour, while working 17 hours every day.
Sip with Socialites notes that the maid would care for George's six children. Mathai, from Kerala state in India, has had no days off and claims she has been treated like a slave by her well-off employers, who live in a 30,000 square-foot (2,787 square-meter) mansion.
After meeting the Georges in 2005, she was allegedly not allowed to leave their employment. When she asked George, of Kerala origins herself, to let her return to India, she was taken to an attorney in order to discuss her immigration documents.
George then charged $4,000 (€3,070) for the consult, claiming it was deducted from her pay. During her time with the family, she was supposed to earn $206,000 (€158,000). Instead, her total salary amounted to $29,000 (€22,250).
George is charged with breaking immigration laws by hiring an illegal immigrant and mistreating her, an account confirmed by a special agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations.
Agent Daria Botten was called to investigate the case after the National Human Trafficking Resource Center received a tip about Mathai's working conditions.