WASHINGTON (AFP) – A Florida couple pleaded guilty to conspiring to hold 39 Filipino employees against their will working in country clubs and hotels, the US Justice Department said Friday.
Sophia Manuel, 41, and Alfonso Baldonado Jr., 45, were owners of a labor contracting service based in the Florida city of Boca Raton.
Manuel and Baldonado "conspired to obtain a cheap, compliant and readily available labor pool, by making false promises to entice the victims to incur debts," read a Department of Justice statement, quoting court documents.
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Saturday, September 18, 2010
$400 Million of Sour Hotel Loans on Block
LNR Partners and two other special servicers are jointly shopping more than $400 million of nonperforming hotel mortgages - the largest offering of distressed loans on a single property type since the market collapse.
LNR is supplying most of the roughly 60 securitized loans, with C-III Asset Management and J.E. Roberts Cos. kicking in the others.
A two-day online auction will start Nov. 1, run by a partnership between Jones Lang LaSalle and REDC. Bidders can make offers on individual loans. Unlike with sealed-bid auctions, offers will be posted live and seen by all participants, although the bidders' identities remain anonymous. Investors can then increase their bids, akin to public-outcry auctions.
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LNR is supplying most of the roughly 60 securitized loans, with C-III Asset Management and J.E. Roberts Cos. kicking in the others.
A two-day online auction will start Nov. 1, run by a partnership between Jones Lang LaSalle and REDC. Bidders can make offers on individual loans. Unlike with sealed-bid auctions, offers will be posted live and seen by all participants, although the bidders' identities remain anonymous. Investors can then increase their bids, akin to public-outcry auctions.
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Lawmakers push to extend federal financing programs to save Palm Beach Florida convention hotel project
Plans to build a hotel next to Palm Beach County's downtown convention center could hinge on the extension of two federal programs that officials say are critically needed to help finance the $110 million project.
Palm Beach County Commission Chairman Burt Aaronson teamed Friday with U.S. Reps. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, and Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, to urge federal lawmakers to extend the programs, both of which set to expire at the end of the year.
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Palm Beach County Commission Chairman Burt Aaronson teamed Friday with U.S. Reps. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, and Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, to urge federal lawmakers to extend the programs, both of which set to expire at the end of the year.
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NY's Upscale Hotel Market Shows Life
Despite growing concerns that the economy is pulling back once again -- the dreaded double-dip recession -- the New York hotel market is on a roll. There are 44 new hotels to set to open this year, and the Big Apple will see the addition of 7,561 new rooms to its inventory.
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Rotating Hotel Strikes Continue Friday in Toronto
Hotel strikes continue as the Toronto International Film Festival winds down this week.
Workers at the Toronto Hilton on Richmond Street West and the airport Hilton hit the bricks Friday due to a lack of movement in the bargaining process.
Hotel employees in the Westmont chain have been participating in rotating one-day strikes for the past two weeks. The workers, represented by Unite Here local 75, are upset about working conditions, increased work load due to layoffs and wages.
The union claims the hotel chain used the recession to justify staff cuts and it says the chain has rebounded well from the economic downturn. Many staff members have been working without a contract since February.
Workers at the Toronto Hilton on Richmond Street West and the airport Hilton hit the bricks Friday due to a lack of movement in the bargaining process.
Hotel employees in the Westmont chain have been participating in rotating one-day strikes for the past two weeks. The workers, represented by Unite Here local 75, are upset about working conditions, increased work load due to layoffs and wages.
The union claims the hotel chain used the recession to justify staff cuts and it says the chain has rebounded well from the economic downturn. Many staff members have been working without a contract since February.
Hotels in India hire detectives to keep an eye on guests
NEW DELHI: If you are visiting the capital for the Commonwealth Games and are putting up at a five-star or seven-star hotel, then don't be surprised if someone follows you or enquires about your guests. As part of heightened security measures during the Games, hotels are hiring private detectives to keep an eye on visitors and their guests during the 12-day sporting extravaganza.
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Buuteeq raises $1.1 million, rolls out iPhone apps for hotels
Buuteeq, a stealthy Seattle upstart which is creating mobile applications for hotels, has raised $1.1 million in new financing, according to a filing with the SEC. Buuteeq is led by Adam Brownstein, who previously worked on the Surface team at Microsoft and in the marketing department at Sony.
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Miami DDA looks at convention hotel
On Friday, the Miami Downtown Development Authority voted to pursue a market analysis on the viability of a convention hotel in Miami’s downtown.
The Miami DDA hired land use organization Urban Land Institute to study the issue and produce a preliminary report, which was presented to the board Friday.
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The Miami DDA hired land use organization Urban Land Institute to study the issue and produce a preliminary report, which was presented to the board Friday.
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Hilton name abused in Pittsburgh, hotel chain tells court
Stop calling it a Hilton.
That's what a subsidiary of Hilton Worldwide Inc. is demanding of the owner of the former Hilton Pittsburgh, Downtown.
In a complaint filed Friday in U.S. Bankrupcty Court in Pittsburgh, HLT Existing Franchise Holding LLC is asking for a judge to stop Shubh Hotels Pittsburgh LLC from using the Hilton name any longer.
Hilton terminated its franchise license agreement with Shubh earlier this month, citing poor quality assurance scores, unpaid debts and judgments, and negative publicity surrounding the hotel.
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That's what a subsidiary of Hilton Worldwide Inc. is demanding of the owner of the former Hilton Pittsburgh, Downtown.
In a complaint filed Friday in U.S. Bankrupcty Court in Pittsburgh, HLT Existing Franchise Holding LLC is asking for a judge to stop Shubh Hotels Pittsburgh LLC from using the Hilton name any longer.
Hilton terminated its franchise license agreement with Shubh earlier this month, citing poor quality assurance scores, unpaid debts and judgments, and negative publicity surrounding the hotel.
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