The alleged trafficking network was orchestrated by George Ten, a local businessman who took over his family’s staffing business, First Diversity, after his father, Miguel Ten, faced legal trouble with the IRS, sources told me. I couldn’t get a hold of George but have left messages for him. Miguel answered my questions thoughtfully and in a straightforward way.
Miguel said his wife and children were born in New York, and he moved to Delaware and then Ohio to work in human resources for Dole. In 2002, Miguel said, he started First Diversity out of his home and he said that he left George the business around 2010 when he became a pastor.
“I turned it over to him because the Lord called me to be a pastor about 2010. I turned everything over to him,” said Miguel, now a pastor at Life in Christ Community Church on Sunset Street in Springfield.
The company jingle is that First Diversity is a “leader in putting Americans back to work by providing Quality Staffing Solutions.” The company has grown to have new operations, where workers from Haiti are also allegedly funneled: Washington Court House, Ohio; Lima, Ohio; Sidney, Ohio; Huber Heights, Ohio; Gastonia, N.C.; and Charlotte, N.C..
He said his son wasn’t involved in alleged human trafficking. “Well, you know, to be honest with you, this I know, the city and the companies had a shortage of people. They put pressure on not only First Diversity,” but also another employment agency, “to get employees because they didn’t have anybody to work. The companies needed people and we didn’t have enough people.”
Hispanic and Mexican laborers were illegal, he said. “The Haitians were legal.”
He never heard the nickname “King George,” he said. “This is the first time that I am hearing something like that. That is new to me.”
Around 2008, Miguel hired a local businessman, Bruce Smith, as a company executive.
Miguel said, “My son is a good smart young man. I wanted to make sure that he got his degree.” George got a master’s degree in finance, he said.
Sources say Bruce is troubled by the direction the business has taken but keeps his job as vice president and leads in negotiating contracts with employers who hire the Haitian migrants and others. Bruce couldn’t be reached for comment.
