الملحق العسكري بالسفارة المغربية بواشنطن اعترف هو وزوجته بتهمة تهريب البشر أمام محكمة أمريكية للتخفيف من حكمه
- Abdelkader Amal and his wife Hnia pleaded guilty to alien harboring
- The couple illegally snuck the victim into America to be their housemaid
- The Moroccan woman, who worked there for three years, was never paid
- The couple instead paid just $8500 towards the victim's home in Morocco
A former Moroccan diplomat and his wife are facing up to five years in prison after illegally sneaking a woman into America so she could work as their servant - for free.
Former Moroccan diplomat Abdelkader Amal and his wife Hnia, from Alexandria, Virginia, refused to pay the victim a salary, despite forcing her to work up to 60 hours per week as their private housemaid.
Instead, the husband and wife - who reportedly seized the victim's passport - paid just $8500 towards the woman's apartment in Morocco while she was employed between December 2007 and December 2010.
A picture of who is thought to be Abdelkader Amal, left, and his wife Hnia, right. The couple, from Alexandria, Virginia, have admitted bringing a Moroccan woman into America under a fraudulent visa. They are pictured here with their daughter Mariam Amal, who is not involved in the case
The Department of Justice said the couple now face a lengthy prison sentence, as well as a $250,000 fine, after admitting bringing the Moroccan woman into America under 'false pretenses'.
Mr Amal, who worked as a diplomat at the Moroccan embassy in Washington D.C., and his wife, who runs a cleaning company from their home, pleaded guilty at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to a charge of alien harboring.
A spokesman for the DOJ said: 'The guilty plea stemmed from evidence that Abdelkader and Hnia Amal unlawfully brought a woman into the United States from Morocco and then kept the woman in their home as a domestic servant for three years.'
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The DOJ said the couple promised to pay the housemaid - identified only as 'F.H' - $400 a week if she worked for the family's cleaning company.
But the victim - who was snuck into the country on a fraudulent visa - was forced to work as the family's servant for three years, during which time she was never paid a salary.
The couple instead made two down payments on the woman's apartment in Morocco, which came to just $8500.
A couple who opened the Amals' front door during a broadcast by abc, believed to be the two defendants, did not give any comment about the case. The couple kept the victim as their maid for three years but never paid her a salary, according to the Department of Justice
The two payments, made in October 2010 and January 2011, covered only a quarter of the total apartment cost, the DOJ said.
According to court papers, F.H was forced to clean, cook and provide childcare for the Amals' grandchild.
She was also made to work for the cleaning company and clean for the couple's friends, the DOJ said.
Although the cleaning company was paid for F.H.'s work, the victim never saw any of the money.
The Department of Justice confirmed the Amals face up to five years in jail after admitting bringing the woman into America on a fraudulent visa
The Amals snuck F.H into America on a visa which they had obtained after pretending she would be working as a housemaid for a different employer.
According to Mr Amal's plea agreement in the case, he used to be employed as a military official in the Moroccan embassy in Washington D.C.
Once he stopped working there after his retirement in 2003, he was no longer eligible to sponsor individuals to come into America, the DOJ said.
The Amals have now agreed to pay more than $50,000 to F.H.
They are due to be sentenced on July 11.
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