A 42-year-old Saudi princess by the name of Meshael Alayban was arrested on Wednesday, July 10th, due to suspicions that she has been keeping five maids captive in her Irvine, California home. Alayban has been allegedly withholding the five women's travel documents and work contracts to force them to continue to work for her for miniscule pay. Police believe that Alayban has the documents in a safety deposit box inside of a local bank.
Authorities were alerted to the forced labor/borderline slavery situation after one of Alayban's servants, a Kenyan woman, escaped from the three-story residence and ran for help. The other four workers are from the Philippines. According to Irvine police Lt. Julia Engen, the Kenyan woman was hired in March 2012, and signed a two-year contract that guaranteed she would be paid $1,600 a month for 8-hour work days, 5 days a week. Instead, Alayban has been making the 30-year-old woman work for 16 hours a day, and has only been paying her $220-per-month.
Mrs. Alayban, mother of three children, is one of six wives married to one of the King of Saudi Arabia's grandsons. She is being held in Orange County Jail on $5 million bail.
Source: nbclosangeles.com
