FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Woman Seeking Child Support Becomes Victim of Labor Trafficking

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Venezuelan Woman Brought to U.S. in Effort to Get $4 Million

Miami (September 13, 2023) – Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle and City of Doral Police Chief Edwin Lopez announce that as a part of a multi-agency investigation initiated by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office Human Trafficking Task Force and the City of Doral Police Department, 41-year-old Jeneffer Natally Gaskin Azuaje has been charged with Labor Trafficking. Also involved in the investigation were Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigation (HSI).

“Every investigation of possible Human Trafficking always leads to a very sad place and situation,” said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “This victim’s need to support her daughters amid the chaotic economic situation in Venezuela led her to be a device in an alleged scheme to grab $4 million. Both labor trafficking and sexual exploitation aim to destroy a person’s humanity, reducing victims to money-making tools, no different than a hammer or a nail, to put cash in the hands of the victim’s controller. I applaud the members of my Human Trafficking Task Force and our partner agencies assisting the Task Force for their work on this investigation.”

Jeneffer Natally Gaskin Azuaje is charged with:
• 1 Count – Labor Trafficking
• 1 Count – Scheme to Defraud
• 1 Count – Unlawful Use of a Two-Way Communications Device

In an attempt to gain regular financial support for her children fathered by a Venezuelan major league baseball player in the U.S., the victim was brought into the country by Gaskin Azuaje, allegedly using fraudulent information to obtain visas for the victim and her 2 daughters. Gaskin Azuaje, a Doral resident and who the victim believed was an attorney, demanded $4 million in child support from the father but refused an offer of $1.3 million. During the 7-month period that “negotiations” were ongoing, the victim performed daily household chores such as washing clothes, cleaning the residence, and cooking for no pay while living with Gaskin Azuaje.

When the demand for $4 Million was firmly refused, the victim was forced to work full-time at a fast-food restaurant, using a Gaskin Azuaje’s identity and social security information with the 7 months’ worth of earnings going to Gaskin Azuaje, the name on the paycheck. Gaskin Azuaje allegedly told the victim, “If you don’t work, you can’t eat”. The victim’s take-home pay of over $15,500 all went to Gaskin Azuaje. The victim went to police after Gaskin Azuaje threw the victim and her daughters out of their residence for communicating with the child’s father, something Gaskin Azuaje had stated only she could do.

Doral Police Chief Edwin Lopez stated: “The Doral Police Department became aware of these unacceptable series of events involving Labor Trafficking when the victim notified us regarding threats she received to her and her daughters’ safety. We are grateful for the collaborative efforts of State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle and the Human Trafficking Task Force that has allowed Jeneffer Natalya Gaskin Azuaje to be brought to justice. We have a zero tolerance for any crime related to Labor or Human Trafficking and will continue to proactively combat these crimes with the assistance of our law enforcement partners.”