‘She wouldn’t scream.’ Salon owner convicted of trafficking stabbed worker with nail tools

Michael Gordon

In the dry, legalistic parlance of the federal courts, Thuy Tien Luong’s conviction on Friday was for the crime of “forced labor.”

Yet, a stream of court documents in the prosecution of the 37-year-old owner of a Davidson nail salon adds new and harrowing details of her two-year campaign of terror against a longtime friend and employee.

Luong, according to federal prosecutors, used everything from her fists to a broom to repeatedly beat her Vietnamese victim, identified in court documents by the initials K.D. She also stabbed and slashed K.D. with the nail tools of her salon.

In another assault cited by prosecutors, Luong ripped out strands of K.D.’s hair, then poured acetone — a solvent used to remove nail polish — into the open wounds, documents show.

Duo accused of human trafficking at NC salon stabbed woman with tools, warrants say

To isolate her victim, prosecutors say, the longtime owner of Luxury Nails on Jetton Street seized K.D.’s credit cards and insurance IDs. She forced the worker to be video-recorded saying insulting things about her own family, which Luong threatened to use against her. She woke her up in the middle of the night with abusive texts and phone calls.

Luong also concocted an inflated dollar amount of supposed financial losses — $180,000 — that she falsely assigned to K.D.’s supposed, on-the-job mistakes.

She also drew up a fraudulent contract, which she forced K.D. to sign, guaranteeing that the employee would repay the amount. She added $1,000 to the debt, according to documents, every time a customer allegedly complained, and she began seizing K.D.’s $900 paycheck each week to make sure she got her money.

The physical and emotional abuse, which prosecutors date back to October 2016, dragged on through one last night of violence.

On June 24, 2018, Luong and her boyfriend, Nip Mihn Tsi, went to K.D.’s home and forced her to get into a car, documents show.

For the next two hours as they drove around, Luong beat her one-time friend. When K.D. returned home with a broken nose, blackened eyes, a split lip and other injuries, she finally confided to her family about what had been happening at the salon. She and several cousins went to the Davidson police the next day.

Tsi faces charges in state court that include human trafficking, assault inflicting serious bodily injury, conspiracy and intimidating a witness, records show.

Suspects in Davidson nail salon case charged with new assault, witness intimidation

On Friday, after a five-day trial, Luong’s conviction brought forth an unusually large outpouring of condemnation of her actions.

A top U.S. Justice Department compared Luong’s actions to slave masters and slavery. U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray of Charlotte said Luong is a human trafficker who “despicably preyed” upon her friend’s hardships and vulnerabilities

Luong will be sentenced at a later date. Her attorney, Terry Sherrill of Charlotte, did not respond to an Observer email seeking comment Monday.

Thuy Tien Luong, the longtime owner of Luxury Nails on Jetton Street in Davidson, was convicted on a federal charge of forced labor on Friday, January 8, 2021.
Thuy Tien Luong, the longtime owner of Luxury Nails on Jetton Street in Davidson, was convicted on a federal charge of forced labor on Friday, January 8, 2021.

‘She wouldn’t scream’

Worldwide, the United Nations says more than 40 million workers are believed to be the victims of forced labor, a major component of human trafficking. At least 70 percent of the victims are women or girls.

That the crimes linked to Luong occurred at a nail salon is not surprising. The Department of Homeland Security lists the health and beauty industry as an habitual offender in the country’s forced-labor black market.

That it happened in the toney small town of Davidson continues to grab headlines. Davidson police Chief Penny Dunn said in a statement after the trial that Luong’s case proves that “domestic trafficking can and does happen anywhere.”

At least three of her salon customers came forward to report her treatment of her employees. One person, who said she was “in total shock” at Luong’s behavior, secretly photographed injuries to K.D. and Luong’s mother, who also worked at the salon, documents show.

After her June 2018 arrest, Luong lashed out at her own mother, suspecting the older woman of cooperating with investigators, prosecutors alleged.

After a month of constant queries about what her mother had told police, Luong exploded into two days of rage. She kicked, bit and beat her mother with her cell phone, according to documents. She ordered her to slap herself in the mouth until she began to bleed. Otherwise, Luong would do it herself.

The alleged attack led to a second arrest of Luong and Tsi, records show.

Documents describe Luong and K.D. as decade-long friends. But their relationship changed in early 2016 after what appeared to be a generous act. Luong loaned $10,000 to K.D. to cover some of her losses from the failure of her own nail salon, and she invited K.D. to come work for her to pay off the debt.

Even after K.D. paid back the loan ahead of time, Luong quickly took over large swaths of her life. According to prosecutors, she used personal information that K.D. had given her in confidence to isolate her from her family, particularly her Aunt Mai, described in court documents as K.D.’s closest Charlotte-area relative and a prominent Vietnamese businesswoman.

Luong threatened to go to police if K.D. did not repay the fabricated debt. She also began beating her employee whenever she was unhappy about how K.D. did her job.

K.D., who was poorly educated, spoke limited English and did not understand how the local legal system worked, felt trapped and accepted the abuse, documents show.

After one assault, Luong sent a dismissive text about K.D. to her mother. Writing in Vietnamese, she used a vulgar two-word epithet to describe her former friend.

“Even though I beat (her),” Luong said, “she wouldn’t scream loudly in the store.”

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