George loses appeal to retain historic estate.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Annie George, who was convicted in 2013 of harboring an illegal immigrant at her upstate New York mansion for over five years and subjecting her to slave-like conditions, has lost an appeal to overturn the verdict.
Prosecutors attested George, who is originally from Kerala, forced victim Valsamma Mathai — also a native of Kerala — to work 17-hour days with no time off or sick leave. Mathai also revealed that she was forced to sleep in a squalid closet during what little time she wasn’t working.
Read a report in The American Bazaar on George’s conviction:
Annie George convicted of sheltering illegal immigrant at mansion
Immigration officials testified Mathai should have earned $317,144 during her tenure with George, instead, an investigator reported she only received $21,000 in payment.
Read how George treated Mathai in an earlier report in The American Bazaar:
I had to escape from there, says Indian servant kept as ‘slave’, at trial
The decision, reached on February 25 by a three-judge panel on the Second Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, also stipulated George must forfeit her multi-million dollar estate, which includes Llenroc, the 20,000-square-foot plus mansion that she effectively imprisoned Mathai in for over half a decade.
George’s attorney’s had previously argued that forfeiture of her home was an excessive penalty, but the appeals court instead found that her interest in the estate — which she shared with her late husband — was about $100,000, which falls significantly short of the $250,000 maximum fine imposed upon George.
Forfeiture is allowed by law in George’s case because Llenroc — which is Cornell spelled backwards — is the site where she staged the crime she stands convicted of. The veritable citadel sits atop a 12-acre plot and overlooks both the Mohawk River and Erie Canal. It was constructed in 1992 by a Cornell graduate who wanted to pay homage to his Ivy League alma mater for the rumored sum of $32.5 million.
According to luxuryrealestate.com, the Llenroc estate is listed at $12.9 million dollars. Distinguishing features in the mansion and estate are a sailboat-shaped indoor pool with separate hot tub, a four-story solarium encased by a teak balcony, a mermaid bar with see-thru views of the pool, sauna, a radiant-ready heated pavers stone driveway, and dancing opera, water and tulip fountains.
1 Comment
this is unbelieveable. whoever the judge was in this case will be dealt with karma.