Mum and son jailed for exploiting men

A mother and son who exploited two men for eight years even tricking one to take part in a sham marriage - have been jailed.

The two victims lived at various addresses in Peterborough over the course of almost eight years.

Roman Slavik, 29 of West Parade, Peterborough, and his mother Maria Slavikova, 46, of the same address, controlled both victims’ bank accounts and only provided them with a small amount of disposable income from the true amount they earned.

The first victim, a 30-yearold man, was paid around £12,900 from Slavik and Slavikova for nearly eight years of work – but the total money he actually earned, including benefits, was £118,700. The second victim, aged 46, was only paid around £13,600 for the same years of work but actually earned around £80,100.

Both men lived with the Slavik family, but were accommodated in very poor conditions, with poor quality food, and were not allowed to return home to Slovakia.

The 30-year-old victim was paid £200 to marry a woman from the Philippines, who he had met only once before, so she could stay in the UK. He never saw her again after the wedding.

The second victim was brought to the UK with just one change of clothes and his Slovakian ID card.

Slavik and Slavikova took out a number of phone contracts in his name for their own use, as well as a gym membership without the victim’s knowledge.

Both men were rescued and entered into the Nation- al Referral Mechanism, from which time they have been striving to rebuild their lives.

Slavik was found guilty of arranging the travel of a person within the UK for exploitation, assisting unlawful immigration (in relation to the sham marriage) and two charges of fraud by abuse of position. Slavikova was found guilty of two counts of fraud by abuse of position. They were sentenced last week where Slavik was handed six and a half years. Slavikova was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.

Roman Slavik and his mother Maria Slavikova.