Egyptian Slave Owner May Live in Mission Viejo

An Egyptian man who was supposed to be deported after being released from federal prison on a slavery conviction is believed to be living in Mission Viejo.

Abdel Nasser Youssef Ibrahim and ex-wife Amal Ahmed Ewis-Abd El Motelib were convicted of holding a 10-year-old girl, also Egyptian, as their maid from August 2000 to April 2002, keeping her out of school and forcing her to sleep on a bare, dirty mattress in a windowless garage, The Orange County Register reported.

The girl, Shyima Hall, now 22 and living in Beaumont where she goes to college, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in December and wants to be an immigration agent, the newspaper reported.

Nassar and Motelib were convicted in 2006 of involuntary servitude, forced labor, conspiracy and harboring an illegal immigrant, and sentenced to 36 months and 22 months in prison, respectively.

At the time of their sentencing, their five children -- then 10-18 years old -- agreed to leave the country.

The wife was sent back to Egypt in 2008, but Ibrahim, freed the next year, was not deported. In August 2011, an immigration judge ruled Ibrahim could stay, as long as he reports to immigration agents regularly.

According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Orange County:

"An immigration judge ruled that Mr. Nassar was deportable, but granted him relief from removal. After the court's decision, (ICE) released Mr. Nassar from custody under an order of supervision and he is subject to regular reporting requirements."

Based on public records, Ibrahim may be living in Mission Viejo, the Register reported. A man with the same name and a former address that matches the Irvine home where Hall was held captive lives in an apartment there, records show.

According to the slavery indictment, Ibrahim and Motelib kept Hall in their home by making "extortionate threats" against her sister in Egypt. The couple then arranged to fraudulently get a visa for Hall, so she could travel to the United States.

Nassar and Motelib each were ordered to pay Hall $76,000. In previous interviews, Hall told the Register she planned to save some of the money and use the rest to pay for her education.

- City News Service