Disgraced hotelier to hand over nearly £100,000

A FORMER Duror hotel owner has been ordered to repay the money he made from trafficking workers from South Asia.

Shamsul Arefin, 50, was jailed for three years in 2015 at Fort William Sheriff Court after he was found guilty of human trafficking.

At Fort William Sheriff Court last week, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald ordered Arefin must repay nearly £100,000 made through his exploitation of four men while owner of the Stewart Hotel, Duror.

Arefin recruited the men from Bangladesh with promises of employment and a salary which could help them improve their lives. They were told to pay him substantial sums of money in return for the jobs and the victims sold family valuables, took out loans and used their savings to raise the money.

On arrival, the men found their salaries were substantially lower than those they had been promised, they were working excessively long hours and their duties were far beyond what they expected.

Their pay left the men unable to repay the debts they had accrued, with one being threatened that his kidney would be removed as a result of his inability to pay. Arefin made substantial amounts of money through his exploitation of his victims.

After the confiscation order for £93,443 was granted at Fort William Sheriff Court, Procurator Fiscal for Specialist Casework Liam Murphy said: ‘Arefin took advantage of vulnerable people for his own financial gain, making significant amounts of money from the suffering of others.

‘Our proceeds-of-crime team has been working to ensure Arefin will not be able to keep the money he made by trafficking people into labour.’