Suit Targets Sew-At-Home Outfit In Western Oregon

The state Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit to shut down a sew-at-home operation suspected of preying on dozens of Hispanic women.

A Washington County judge on Tuesday signed an order requiring Circulo Corp. officials to appear in court May 9.

On Monday night, state investigators changed the locks on the Beaverton business and seized some business records.

Court records show that six Spanish-speaking women paid for, or made down payments on, sewing machines from the company since September 1996. They did so because the company promised them piece-rate work that would allow them to make as much as $18 an hour.

The work never materialized in some cases, and in other cases, the women did the work but were not paid, court records showed.

Most of the women paid $750 down and some additional fees. One woman and her husband are alleged to have lost $23,000.

“We suspect there are many, many more victims,” said state spokeswoman Jan Margosian. “But they are afraid to come forward based on threats made by the company that if they talked to anyone about their problems, they would be reported to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.”

Roberto Suarez, who owns Circulo with his wife, Elena Rojas Govea, denied any threats were made.

“That’s an infamous lie,” he said.

He said the business is a failure, but a shared failure between the company and the contract workers.

Some women didn’t return materials, others didn’t perform work on time and some didn’t complete training, he said.

Hillsboro attorney Jeff Fish said the women were duped.

“As a generalization, the people I have spoken with are not sophisticated in their business dealings, and they relied quite a bit on the word of Circulo,” said Fish.

The couple who claim to have lost $23,000 agreed to invest in a cutting-room business with Circulo after buying a sewing machine. They took out a second mortgage and borrowed from relatives.