Nisswa hotel owner accused of forcing immigrant to work without pay

The onetime owner of a Brainerd Lakes-area hotel forced a South American immigrant to work without being paid, considered her his slave and threatening to kill her if she went to police, according to prosecutors. Vijay Patel, 52, of Deerwood, Minn., was charged Tuesday in Crow Wing County District Court with labor trafficking and threats of violence in connection with his treatment of the woman in the summer of 2024. The Crow Wing County Attorney’s Office noted in the criminal complaint that “there were other immigrant women at the hotel who were also subject to the abuse” by Patel while he owned the Nisswa Inn and Suites. Patel was charged by summons, and his initial court appearance has yet to be scheduled. Advertisement Court records do not list an attorney for him. The Minnesota Star Tribune has reached out to Patel for a response to the allegations. According to the complaint, the woman, a native of Guyana, told a sheriff’s investigator in September 2024 that she answered an ad that summer while visiting family in New York City that offered a free trip to Nisswa. The woman bought a plane ticket on the pledge of being reimbursed and arrived in Minnesota on July 28, 2024, and soon arrived at the hotel, the complaint continued. She was told the next morning by a manager to start cleaning rooms. Patel soon began texting her threatening messages. She responded at one point, the complaint noted, “I want to go home … you kept me here long now against my will. … You people force me to work for you without means or anything.”