PHOENIX — Charges have been filed against multiple undocumented migrants following Homeland Security Investigations raiding 14 Zipps Sports Grill locations across the Valley on Monday.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, the raids by HSI and IRS-Criminal Investigation were the result of a yearlong investigation into unlawful employment of aliens, identity theft and document fraud.
Prosecutors said that 36-year-old Diego Gonzalez-Rosales, an undocumented migrant from Mexico, was in charge of hiring kitchen staff for all of Zipps’ Arizona locations. He is alleged to have recruited and hired undocumented migrants at multiple locations then to have used fraudulent identification documents to verify that they were eligible to work.
Gonzalez-Rosales was charged by criminal complaint with pattern and practice of knowingly employing unauthorized aliens, knowingly making false attestations on a Form I-9, knowingly transferring means of identification without authority and aggravated identity theft.
A total of 39 individuals were taken into custody during the operation for working at Zipps illegally, according to prosecutors.
Three individuals — 28-year-old Edwin Flores Rosales, 48-year-old Salvador Villanueva-Rosas and 22-year-old Ludwin Benjamin Perez Valasco — were also charged with criminal complaints for lying when filling out the Form I-9 by stating they were U.S. citizens and using false identification and social security numbers.
Details on investigation that resulted in HSI raids of Valley Zipps Sports Grills
In March 2025, HSI served the 14 Zipps’ locations as well as its corporate headquarters with a notice of inspection and required the company to hand over its Forms I-9, according to the complaint and probable cause documents.
Prosecutors said the notice of inspection was the result of HSI receiving information that alleged employees had been using fraudulent identification document in order to verify their eligibility to work.
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HSI reviewed the documents and allegedly found instances where the name, social security number and date of birth were being misused on the forms in order to gain employment.
There a total of 76 employees identified as having suspicious patterns of employment that showed between three and 42 employers other than Zipps Sports Grill during the second quarter of 2025.
According to prosecutors, the review also showed multiple jobs and extremely high wages earned in the same quarter which is consistent with aggravated identity theft.
Zipps Sports Grill issued a response on Tuesday night where it acknowledged HSI was operating with “court-authorized search warrants” and said the chain is “cooperating fully” until the investigation is finished.
HSI Arizona, with support from IRS-Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service, will continue the investigation based on information that was seized during the raids.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona said it is prosecuting the case.
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