Federal agents descended on 14 Phoenix-area Zipps restaurants on a sleepy Monday morning, unearthing a web of illegal employment, identity fraud, and a pattern of hiring unauthorized workers. The sting was the culmination of a year-long investigation that brought the bustling sports grills to a standstill as agents from Homeland Security Investigations and the IRS-Criminal Investigation executed search warrants, laid down charges, and rounded up dozens.
At the heart of the allegations, Diego Gonzalez-Rosales, a 36-year-old Mexican national found residing illegally in the United States, finds himself at the center of the storm. Touted as the hiring manager for all Zipps locations across Arizona, Gonzalez-Rosales is now facing a slew of charges – including knowingly hiring unauthorized aliens, falsifying I-9 forms, and aggravated identity theft, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.
The investigation uncovered Gonzalez-Rosales’ alleged scheme, where he recruited and employed illegal workers using doctored identification documents to slip through the E-Verify system. Alongside Gonzalez-Rosales, three other employees faced charges, one of which included Edwin Flores Rosales, 28, accused of claiming U.S. citizenship and using false IDs and social security numbers to secure employment…