Pei Wei Restaurants Raided

Pei Wei Restaurants Raided

PHOENIX - Maricopa County Sheriff deputies continue to search for suspects of identity theft Saturday, a day after a raid of four Pei Wei restaurants in the Valley and its corporate offices in Scottsdale.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio told ABC15 on Friday that deputies served search warrants at restaurants in Phoenix, Tempe, and Fountain Hills along with the corporate offices near 76th Street and Pinnacle Peak Road in Scottsdale to detain 26 suspects.

MCSO Detective Aaron D. Douglas said 15 of the 26 were identified suspects and 11 others were detained after freely admitting they were illegally in the country.

Arpaio said the deputies were looking for about 120 suspects accused of using a fake ID to get a job at the restaurant chain.

Arpaio said investigators were going through evidence collected to determine if the company knowingly hired the workers accused of identity theft.

Investigators have tracked down the majority of the people who had their ID stolen, which included several children, Arpaio said.

Friday afternoon, the company released this statement:

We are currently working with authorities as they pursue an employment-related identity theft investigation that may involve some of our employees. While we have rigorous pre-employment and hiring practices and are committed to using the best tools available, it is unfortunate that some individuals may gain employment through the use of false identification. We will continue to cooperate with this investigation and to the extent that any employee has gained employment with us using a false identity, we will take appropriate action.