A Westchester author facing prosecution for his alleged sexual abuse of women that he lured from Europe to work at his home was indicted today on charges under federal human-trafficking laws in the same case, authorities said.
Joseph Yannai, 66, was taken into custody today on a warrant based on an investigation into state charges first filed last year by Town of Pound Ridge police.
The feds claim that between 2003 and 2009, Yannai placed an ad looking for an assistant. Instead, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said he would try to fondle and grope them.
Yannai, who wrote “The International Who’s Who of Chefs 2004-2005,” also allegedly forbid the women to wear bras and had them watch him take a bath.
“This case is another example of our continuing efforts to aggressively investigate and prosecute individuals who seek to victimize and exploit others to obtain their labor and for criminal sexual purposes,” said Brooklyn US Attorney Loretta Lynch.
Yannai, who has written restaurant guides and a book on famous chefs, said he felt ill after his arrest and was taken to the Northern Westchester Hospital. Yannai will not be arraigned today as a result, although sources believe he faked a stroke.
If convicted, he faces life in prison.
In his emails to women, Yannai “frequently posed as a woman who was supposedly working for Yannai,” according to the feds.
Yannai convinced women to travel to the US to work for him at his home on tourist visas and to falsely tell immigration authorities that they were visiting him for a short time.
Yannai generally had one or two of the women living at his home at any one time, according to the indictment.