Disgraced former hotel owner is back in court
A former Duror hotel owner ordered to repay the money he made from trafficking workers from South Asia was back at Fort William Sheriff Court last week.
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 in May this year, Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald ordered Arefin must repay nearly £94,000 made through his exploitation of four men while owner of the Stewart Hotel, Duror.
Arefin had 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, on arrival, the men found their salaries were substantially lower than they had been promised, they were working excessively long hours and their duties were far beyond what they expected.
At May’s court appearance, Sheriff MacDonald had made a confiscation order for £93,443.
Sheriff MacDonald heard last week, however, that the compensation order was due to expire in a few weeks, yet Arefin had still not paid the money due to issues surrounding the valuation and sale of his house in Surrey.
Arefin’s solicitor, John Good, told the court ongoing efforts to release funds over the near six months since the compensation order was made had been ‘intensive’.
But Mr Good explained the house had now been valued at only 75 per cent of the figure recorded at the end of April and an application had been lodged to ask for the terms of the confiscation order to be varied so Arefin could have longer to raise the funds.
Mr Good added: ‘This house is the only asset he has and he lives there with his severely ill wife and young son. The house has been specially adapted because of his wife’s illness and I am submitting there are some exceptional circumstances in this case.’
Mr Good said he was looking to extend the six-month period for a further three months prior to the disposal of the asset.
The court heard that, according to these valuations, Arefin’s house was now worth around £100,000 less than when the compensation order was made and, if sold at such a valuation, he and his family would, in effect, be homeless once the compensation is paid.
Procurator fiscal Alison Young said the Crown opposed the application to extend the deadline by an extra three months on the grounds it was premature.
‘It seems to be the perception of the Crown Office that no attempt to date has been made to sell the property,’ she said, but added the Crown Office was prepared to agree to further discussions with Arefin’s legal representatives.
Sheriff MacDonald ordered the deadline be extended from October 25 to November 9.