The owner of a supply company and five other men attacked a restaurant worker because he refused to pay a $40,000 debt they claim he owed, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
All six men were charged with one count of conspiracy to collect credit by extortionate means, and five of the six were also charged with one count of extortionate collection of credit by the use of violence and threats of violence, in a two-count indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury Thursday, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
The incident happened June 1 at a restaurant in west suburban Aurora, where five of the six defendants attacked the victim outside, simultaneously punching and kicking him after he was knocked to the ground, the statement said.
During the attack, the restaurant worker was told that he was going to die if he did not pay the debt, the statement said.
An arrest warrant is outstanding for Jinhuang “Benny” Zheng, 31, of Indianapolis. Zheng was an owner of a restaurant supply company in Indianapolis.
Mingrui Sun, 20, of Chicago, was arrested Friday. Bing Liang “Michael” Chen, 26, and Daniel Zhu, 19, also of Chicago, were arrested in August. Jack Wu, 24, of Chicago, voluntarily surrendered Friday, the statement said. Sheng Quan “Peter” Dong, 41, is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in federal court.
The others will all remain in federal custody pending further court proceedings, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Each count of the indictment carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
