The owners of China Buffet II restaurant in Meridian have been accused of harboring and shielding undocumented workers from detection by the government.

A federal indictment charges that Cheng Lin, Guo Guang Lin and Yan Fei Tang and the restaurant engaged in a pattern and practice of employing and transporting at least eight undocumented workers, paying them in cash without maintaining payroll records and deducting rent from wages.

The U.S. attorney's office is seeking forfeiture of $591,240 in cash, a 2007 Ford van and real property from the restaurant owners.

The indictment says China Buffet II failed to withhold and pay federal income taxes on the workers, failed to prepare an I-9 form for each of them as required by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and failed to report wages to the Mississippi Employment Security Commission and the Internal Revenue Service.

The government said the defendants would submit false forms containing the names and wages of legitimate employees but without the names and wages of undocumented employees as a result of the incomplete information provided to the accountant.

"It was further part of the scheme and artifice to defraud that on or about April 16, 2017, the defendants submitted a false...form for the first quarter of 2017 to the Mississippi Department of Employment Security falsely stating that the form is true and correct when in fact it was not," according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges the scheme began in March 2013 and part of it lasted until the filing of the indictment Oct. 18.

The four-count indictment alleges wire fraud, continuing employment of undocumented workers, hiring unauthorized workers and employment of unauthorized workers.

No one could be reached Tuesday at the restaurant located at 2210 North Frontage Road in Meridian.

The indictment was one of the first by new U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst of the Southern District of Mississippi.

“Those who come into our country illegally and those who harbor and employ them will be vigorously prosecuted by this office. We will not allow those who violate the law to steal jobs and expend resources intended for American citizens and those here legally,” Hurst said.

Hurst was sworn in Oct. 10. He was a former prosecutor in the office.

More:Mississippi's new U.S. attorney sworn in

Hurst recently served as director of the Mississippi Justice Institute. He was the Republican nominee for state attorney general in 2015, unsuccessfully challenging incumbent Democrat Jim Hood. Hurst served as assistant U.S. attorney from 2006-2015, focusing on public corruption and leading many high-profile cases.

Hurst was nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Oct. 3.