Gangmasters sent vulnerable victims out to work for £20 a week and trapped them in inhuman conditions
A CRIME family who enslaved vulnerable people and forced them to work for £20 a week have been jailed.
The ruthless group lured homeless people from eastern Europe to the UK with promise of a job, accommodation and a better life.
However, when they arrived they were forced to live in squalid conditions, with up to 15 people sleeping in one room.
They were also put to work in restaurants for little reward, and moved to accommodation in cities across the UK, including Derby, Nottingham, Birmingham and Gloucester.
Now five members of the Slovakian family behind the scheme have been jailed for a total of 30 years.
Police believe there were up to 50 victims who were initially sent to an address in Handsworth, Birmingham. Once there they would be made to work six days a week and have their earnings kept from them, with the excuse that the money was being saved for them.
Few actually saw this cash though, and some had their ID papers taken from them. With no money and unable to speak English, West Midlands Police said they endured psychological and sometimes physical abuse as they were taken to and from their places of work.
The crimes came to light after two of the workers told a charity they were being exploited.
Undercover surveillance revealed occupants were being collected in the morning and returned late at night, by the same men in different vehicles. It also emerged the same men had been flying out of England alone and returning accompanied by different people, since 2008.
In August 2017, the property in Handsworth was raided, along with four restaurants across the West Midlands. Twenty men, mainly from Slovakia and Romania, were found to be living in poor conditions.
Gejza Demeter and his wife Andrea Demeterova were arrested on suspicion of slavery offences. The pair skipped bail and fled to Slovakia but detectives joined forces with Slovakian authorities to investigate the organised crime family.
Demeterova’s mother, Zdenka Ferencova, was head of the family and part of “the business” which also included her son, Pavol Ferenc, and his wife, Klaudia Ferencova.
Each had been involved in “recruiting” vulnerable workers from Eastern Europe, transporting them to the UK and putting them in accommodation in Birmingham, Gloucester, Nottingham and Derby, from where they were taken to work.
Detective Inspector Lisa Jackson said: “We took 22 victim statements from mostly men, but some women, who had been enticed by the promise of a better life, however the reality was far different.
“Many shared beds, some even slept on the floor, but all had to work long hours and were paid very little. We believe there were more than 60
victims who suffered the same exploitation, but we have been unable to trace them.”
One victim said: “There were seven people in our bedroom, some of us even slept on the floor. There were about 50 people in the house
with one toilet and one bathroom. Immediately after my arrival, my ID documents were taken by them and not returned. I worked together with others in different restaurants from the morning until the evening, six days a week. We could not go anywhere
– this wasn’t a life.
“We had one day off during the week and even then, we had to work in the house where we were staying. For the week’s work, we got paid £20 and some of the people did not even get that.
“I got up at 5am in the morning, by 6am I was in the restaurant. The restaurant closed at 10pm but we would have to stay to wash and tidy up. Then, we returned home, went to sleep and the same thing happened the following day. It was a very hard life.”
On September 4, 2019, West Midlands Police executed European arrest warrants simultaneously in Slovakia, Germany and the Netherlands, from a co-ordination centre in The Hague.
Within a 20-minute period, all five suspects were arrested. They were extradited back to the UK between November and December 2019.
All five later submitted pleas, which were accepted by prosecutors earlier this year. They were sentenced on May 5.
Gejza Demeter, 53, was jailed for eight years for conspiracy to traffick into UK for exploitation, conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel with view to exploitation, conspiracy to require another to perform forced compulsory labour, conspiracy to control another for purpose of labour exploitation and conspiracy to remove criminal property from England and Wales.
Andrea Demeterova, 49, was sentenced to six-anda-half years in prison for conspiracy to traffick into UK for exploitation, conspiracy to traffick within the UK for exploitation and conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel with view to exploitation. Pavol Ferenc, 48, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for conspiracy to traffick into the UK for exploitation, conspiracy to traffick within the UK for exploitation and conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel with view to exploitation.
Klaudia Ferencova, 41, was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy to traffick into the UK for exploitation and conspiracy to arrange/facilitate travel with view to exploitation.
Zdenka Ferencova, 68, was sentenced to four years in prison for conspiracy to traffick into the UK for exploitation, conspiracy to arrange/ facilitate travel with view to exploitation and conspiracy to control another for purpose of labour exploitation.
All five were also served with slavery and trafficking prevention orders, which entitle officers to use powers to ensure they don’t return to their crimes after their release.
West Midlands Police estimated the racket had raked in profits of almost £700,000, just from the victims who spoke to police. There were many more who police were unable to trace.
Officers will now look to recover cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
There were about 50 people in the house with one toilet and one bathroom.
Trafficking victim