Saudi Arabian princess Meshael Alayban has been charged with human trafficking after an enslaved domestic escaped from her Orange County condominium.
According to prosecutors, Princess Meshael, 42, who has been living in California, kept her Kenyan maid confined to the condo and took away her passport and other documents.
According to the Guardian: “Prosecutors in southern California have charged a Saudi Arabian princess with human trafficking and accused her of bringing a Kenyan woman to the United States and holding her against her will as a servant.
“The accused woman, Meshael Alayban, 42, brought the Kenyan to the U.S. in May and paid her $220 a month while holding her passport and keeping her confined to an apartment complex in Irvine, California, where Alayban lived, Orange County prosecutors said.
“The servant, whose name was not released, had to wash dishes, cook, clean, do laundry and iron without a day off, prosecutors said.
Authorities said they found four Filipino women in the home, who also may have had their passports seized by Alayban’s family. An investigation was under way into whether others were involved in the alleged human trafficking scheme.”
According to the Daily Mail: “Alayban was arrested after the Kenyan woman carrying a suitcase flagged down a bus after escaping and tearfully told a passenger that she was a human-trafficking victim.
“The passenger helped the woman contact police who traveled to Alayban’s home where they found another four servants from the Philippines, allegedly in similar conditions, after serving a search warrant on the condo where the princess, her husband and her family lived.
“The 30-year-old woman was hired through an agency in Kenya in March 2012 and her passport was taken from her on arrival in Saudi Arabia by Alayban – who is married to a member of the ruling al-Saud family of Saudi Arabia, which has up to five thousand members.
“Police say Alayban’s family traveled to the United States in May with the victim and four women from the Philippines.”
Meshael Alayban has been charged with one count of human trafficking. If convicted, she faces up to 12 years in prison.
