ALBANY – The owner of a downtown Schenectady restaurant and her sister-in-law allegedly conspired to retaliate against the mother of a sexual abuse victim after the child reported being assaulted by the restaurant owner’s husband last month.
The investigation into Naphalak Fuino, the owner of Pho Queen, and Patricia Paul-Zimbler began after the 7-year-old victim saw a presentation at her elementary school on inappropriate touching and sexual contact and reported the abuse.
Attorneys for the two women declined to comment.
Naphalak Fuino’s husband, Daniel Fuino,73, was charged with one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old. Fuino faces up to 30 years in federal prison if convicted. The two women face up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted.
The alleged abuse began nearly a year ago, shortly after the child’s mother began working at Pho Queen. The Fuinos would watch the victim while the mother worked in the restaurant and on several occasions took the child with them on trips to Atlantic City, according to the complaint.
Daniel Fuino would photograph the child’s genitals, perform sexual acts on her and force her to perform sexual acts on him, according to charges filed against him. He also allegedly recorded some of those acts. The alleged abuse happened at the Fuinos’ Slingerlands home and at an Atlantic City resort the Fuinos visited.
After her child alerted authorities to the abuse, the victim’s mother told the FBI how her employer essentially stole from her and wielded immense influence over her life. The woman does not have permission to work in the United States, so she was paid $15 an hour under the table at Pho Queen, authorities allege. The woman occasionally had to travel to New York City to receive treatment for a medical issue, which Naphalak Fuino paid for with her credit card.
Naphalak Fuino also eventually bought the woman a van for her to drive to medical treatments. She told the woman the 2015 van cost her $30,000 then took the cost of the vehicle and medical expenses from the woman’s pay so that the woman made as little as $100 a month working up to six days a week in the restaurant, according to the complaint.
The woman also used to car to get to a second job caring for an older woman in Montgomery County that Fuino found for her, and for picking her daughter up from school.
The events in the days after the child reported the abuse laid out the basis for the federal charges against the two women.
On May 17, federal agents searched the Fuino home in Slingerlands after the two returned from a trip to Atlantic City, seizing electronic devices and interviewing the couple. During the interviews, Daniel Fuino allegedly admitted to sexual contact with the child and was arrested.
While agents were there, Funio’s sister, Patricia Paul-Zimbler, a former supervisor at the Albany County Department for Children, Youth and Family Services, arrived at their home.
After the agents left, Paul-Zimbler and Naphalak Fuino allegedly called the mother and told her she was in trouble and would have to go back to Thailand. They also informed the victim’s mother that they were taking the car from her, despite it being registered in her name. At their insistence, the woman removed the license plates from the car and left the keys in it. The van was towed that evening from the woman’s home in Saratoga County.
Paul-Zimbler was later recorded on a May 21 call with her brother at the Albany County jail admitting to towing the car. The pair were alerted ahead of time that their calls were being recorded.
“Yeah, f—— took that car,” she told her brother. “I’m not giving her that car.”
Naphalak Fuino also appeared to have blamed the woman for her child reporting Fuino’s husband for sexual abuse.
“I read (her) complaint, it was really bad … but you both did that to us, it was really bad,” she wrote in a text message to the woman from Paul-Zimbler’s phone after federal agents searched the Fuinos’ home, according to court documents.
On May 22, federal agents listened in on a controlled call between the woman and Paul-Zimbler. During the call, the woman asked Paul-Zimbler to return the car so she could work but Paul-Zimbler claimed she had already sold it and hung up.
Shortly after that, Paul-Zimbler and Naphalak Fuino called the woman back. Fuino and the woman spoke to each other in Thai. After the call ended, the woman relayed to FBI agents that Fuino tried to tell the woman she had taken good care of her and that she and her child shouldn’t have reported the abuse. She demanded $30,000 to return the vehicle to the mother.
The two women were arrested soon after that. They were released from federal detention after an initial appearance May 24 and surrendered their passports.
