Advertisement Owner of Chinese buffet faces human trafficking charges Police report says Golden Palace Buffet workers kept in basement of home Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The owner of a Louisville Chinese restaurant faces human trafficking charges after an investigation into treatment of the workers at the Golden Palace Buffet.The investigation into the restaurant began more than a year ago, police said.Authorities believe the workers were brought to Louisville from New York as part of a human trafficking ring and many of the workers didn't know what city or state they were in. None had passports.Louisville Metro police said they discovered the workers were not paid properly for working 12-hour shifts, six days a week with few to no breaks and limited freedoms."We found in our investigation that some of the females that were working as waitresses were working for tips only, and a lot of times they didn’t get to keep their tips. They were working 12-hours days, six days a week and not receiving any money at all," Sgt. Andre Bottoms said.According to the arrest report, Ming Wen Chen kept the employees in the basement of a home on Churchdown Lane, near Third Street Road and Outer Loop."The actual basement door from the inside of the house was blocked off. They had no access to come up into the home and the basement was set up where they had little tiny rooms, about 10 little rooms, some 6x6 or 7x7. They were real small rooms," Bottoms said.Police didn't specify how many victims were involved, but said while they could move freely in the basement, many weren't allowed to come out of the basement except in the company of Chen.Chen transported the employees to and from the restaurant, which is in the 100 block of Outer Loop, in a van with wooden benches.Police said Chen's wife, Xiang Jiang, was cited in the case, but not arrested.