Man guilty of visa fraud in Thai welders case

Yoo Taik Kim, 55, was found guilty by a federal jury in Los Angeles on Tuesday of visa fraud and lying on his citizenship application.

The case was part of a broader investigation into a labor deal that Thai welders claimed promised them legitimate jobs for an American steel company but subjected them to intolerable conditions at the hands of Kim's manpower company.

Kim helped bring 49 welders to the United States on temporary visas in 2002 to work for Trans Bay Steel in Northern California, but only 10 of the workers actually ended up working for the steel company, according to court papers filed by federal prosecutors.

The rest toiled for him at Thai restaurants he operated in Los Angeles and Long Beach for little or no pay and lived in cramped conditions _ one home initially lacked furniture and another electricity _ and were told they would be arrested and deported if they dared to leave, court papers said.