Plymouth couple made $74M using undocumented immigrant workers, feds say
A wealthy Plymouth couple appeared in federal court accused of recruiting more than 200 undocumented immigrants over the years to work for their national plumbing business and housing many of them in rundown motels and homes, according to a new court filing in New York. Moreover, they earned 74 million dollars in revenue in the meantime.
Moises and Raquel Orduna-Rios face federal charges including money laundering following a five-year investigation that began when federal agents spotted one of the couple’s company vans outside a motel in Amherst, N.Y. Agents also encountered and arrested a small group of illegal immigrants who said the van belonged to their “boss,” according to court records.
That boss was Moises Orduna-Rios, 36, president of Michigan-based Orduna Plumbing Inc., which also operates in New York, North Carolina and Ohio. He was arrested on Monday, Nov. 18, after years of surveillance by federal agents who kept a close eye on company vans, financial transactions, communications and illegal employees earning $800 to $1,500 a week and, in some cases, their living expenses.
The government says nine undocumented immigrants lived in the home while working for a Pontiac couple who hired more than 200 undocumented immigrants to build a $74 million plumbing empire. The couple entered criminal charges in federal court on November 18, 2025.
According to the criminal complaint filed Monday, Nov. 18, the investigation uncovered messages between Orduna-Rios and some of his illegal workers discussing payroll, proper maintenance of company vehicles and company credit cards, and concerns about their undocumented status and capture.
It was also discussed that workers change their shelters in order to be less visible to law enforcement officers, their complaints and the precautions to be taken to avoid being arrested.
“Guys, with all this discussion going on, it is better to be prepared, go the speed limit, limit yourself when going to the store, do only the bare minimum of errands, and no gatherings like barbecues…” Orduna-Rios wrote in a group chat message on Feb. 1.
Nine months after sending that message, Orduna-Rios and his wife would find themselves in a federal courtroom in Detroit; They would be charged with conspiracy, transporting and harboring undocumented immigrants for commercial advantage or private financial gain, and money laundering. If convicted, they each face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a fine of $3,000 for each undocumented immigrant they employ.
The couple was released on bail. Their next hearing will take place on December 2 in federal court in New York, where the criminal case was filed and will be tried.
The defendants’ federal court documents do not yet list an attorney. Efforts to reach them late on Monday, November 18, were unsuccessful.
The couple employed approximately 253 workers between 2022 and 2024, according to the government. Prosecutors alleged that the defendants collected their workers’ passports and housed them in overcrowded homes and hotel rooms, saying only six of those employees were allowed to work in the United States. According to court records, 23 of 247 undocumented workers at Orduna Tesisat were arrested during the federal investigation.
The criminal complaint in this case provides a glimpse of how the federal government aggressively pursues undocumented immigrants who allegedly helped a Michigan couple get rich in exchange for jobs, housing and sometimes plane rides to a job site.
According to the complaint, Border Patrol Agents tracked Orduna Plumbing trucks with Michigan license plates for months and years and arrested undocumented immigrants in all kinds of places, including Walmart parking lots, motel parking lots, traffic stops, and more. Undercover agents also tricked some workers to get more information.
For example, on December 27, 2024, Border Patrol agents went to a tow truck depot in Rochester, New York, where a plainclothes agent chatted with an employee of Orduna Plumbing who was on his way to pick up his van. The plumbing worker, who did not know he was talking to a federal agent, showed approximately $10,000 in cash while speaking to the agent and told him that he was responsible for paying Orduna Plumbing employees in the Rochester area. He also told the agent that he would provide him with housing, a vehicle, tools and a small team if he wanted to work for the company.
The agent told the man he was in the United States illegally. The man reportedly told her it was no problem and that he would still hire her.
The agent continued playing without answering. After the conversation, the man took the work minibus from the tow truck and returned to the house where his colleagues were. Unbeknownst to him, federal agents had followed him and spotted five more work trucks belonging to Orduna Tesisat in front of the small yellow house where nine men lived, even though it had only three bedrooms.
It’s inside a 3-bedroom house where nine undocumented immigrants lived while working for a Michigan plumbing company that the government says made $74 million by hiring more than 200 illegal workers.
The investigation would continue with federal agents using wiretapping devices to listen in on conversations between various installation employees and Orduna-Rios, whom they already knew was the company’s boss.
According to the criminal complaint, federal agents intercepted messages that Orduna-Rios sent to his employees titled “Housing and Hotels,” saying that they were responsible for keeping the houses clean, keeping the walls unmarked, keeping the houses dirty and paying the bills for some houses. He also posted the “HOTELS” rules, stating:
It started like this: “[d]”Do not leave the minibus with your shoes covered in mud, do not leave garbage behind when you leave the room, THEY CHARGE ME FOR THIS, IF THEY INFORM ME NOT TO TURN ON THE ALARM, THEY CHARGE ME.”
On February 1, 2025, the warning about ICE raids came: “Gentlemen, while all this discussion is going on, it is better to be prepared, do not exceed the speed limit, limit yourself when going to the store, do errands to a minimum, and do not have gatherings such as barbecues.”
The message continued: “Don’t worry about jobs, I’ve been looking into it and they can’t get into projects unless they have an order and notify the construction company. If someone tells me they’re coming I’ll let them know… Analysts think it won’t last long but for added safety everyone be really careful.”
A federal agent, after including this message in his statement, noted that enforcement activities against immigrants increased during this period and that Orduna-Rios warned his workers to be careful. But the agent wrote that he also advised them that they had rights, noting that what he said sounded like a message copied and pasted from an immigration website. The statement stated: “Undocumented Immigrants in the United States have certain IMMIGRATION LAW Rights, including the right to due process, the right to counsel, and the right to remain silent. These rights apply to all regardless of their immigration status.”
Nine months after sending that message, Orduna-Rios and her husband, the company’s treasurer, were arrested as the feds continued to scrutinize company records, deposits and communications.
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
This article was first published in the Detroit Free Press: Rich Michigan couple accused of hiring 200 undocumented workers
