GLAA Employee Login
GLAA
  • Report Problems: 0800 432 0804
  • General Office Enquiries: 0345 602 5020
  • Home
    • Licence renewals
    • Licensing Portal Login
    • Active Check Portal Login
  • Who We Are
    • What we do
    • Our Aims and Objectives
    • The GLAA Board
    • Legislation
    • Vacancies
    • Modern slavery
    • Freedom of Information
    • Press Releases
    • Better regulation
    • Our partners
    • Trade Union Facility Time 2022/23
  • What's New
    • Latest news
    • News Archive
    • Briefs and guidance
    • Freedom of information requests
    • Parliamentary Questions
    • GLAA Newsletters
  • Our Impact
    • Who has a GLAA licence
    • How we inspect and prosecute
    • Who has been inspected
    • Revocations results
    • Appeals against the GLAA
    • Criminal offences and sanctions
    • Conviction totals
    • Performance Reports
    • Appeals 2023
  • Publications
    • GLAA Publication Scheme
    • Resources
    • Licensing guidance
    • GLAA Brief and Licensing News
    • Legislation
    • Corporate Publications
    • Implementation of the Regulators Code Principles
    • Labour Exploitation
    • GLAA Brief 80 - Charge rate guidance April 2023
    • Exploitation is a crime poster
  • Contact Us
  • Report Issues
    • Is the GLAA the correct enforcement body for you?
    • English
    • Bulgarian
    • Latvian
    • Lithuanian
    • Polish
    • Portuguese
    • Romanian
    • Slovak
  • Information for workers
    • Worker Information
    • Brexit
    • Workers' Rights Leaflets
    • Government Leaflets
    • What You Should Expect at Work
    • Who Else Can Help
    • Your Rights
    • How we can Help
    • Spot the Signs
    • कामदारको अधिकारहरू
  • Licence renewals
  • Licensing Portal Login
  • Active Check Portal Login
  • I supply workers
    • I need a GLAA licence
    • I have a GLAA licence
  • I use workers
    • Labour User Best Practice
    • Inspections and Investigations
    • Keep up to date with Licence Changes
    • Public Register Checks and Formal 'Active Check' Guidance
  • What's New
  • Press Release Archive
  • Fenland gangmasters guilty – sentence to follow

Fenland gangmasters guilty – sentence to follow

19th December 2014

Two men have been convicted of exploiting migrant workers by acting as unlicensed gangmasters in Cambridgeshire.

Latvians Juris Valujevs and Ivars Mezals were found guilty of acting as unlicensed gangmasters yesterday (December 17) following a nine-week trial at Blackfriars Crown Court, in London.

During the trial the court heard that Valujevs, 36, of Turbus Road, Kings Lynn, and Ivars Mezals, 28, previously of Conference Way, Wisbech, were ‘business partners’, supplying a number of companies with migrant workers from the Latvian and Lithuanian communities between 2009 and 2013.

They performed field work roles harvesting crops at a number of farms in the Fenland area.

These workers told the court how they were promised plentiful and well-paid employment. In reality, they were rarely given work straight away and then work was tightly controlled, placing and keeping them in a state of ‘debt bondage’.

When they were found work, Valujevs and Mezals would intercept their wages and make unwarranted deductions for rent, debt, transport and fines, in some cases leaving them with £20 or less a week to live on.

The court heard how a female witness was told by Valujevs that she would “end up like Alisa”, which she took to be a reference to a woman whose body was found on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk in January 2012.

A further female witness told the court how Mezals had suggested paying back debt by selling her organs because she did not drink or smoke.

Valujevs and Mezals, together with Lauma Vankova , 26, of Cresswell Road, Kings Lynn, and Oksana Valujeva, 34, of Turbus Road, Kings Lynn, were also charged with conspiracy to facilitate the commission of breaches of UK immigration law by a non-EU person, in relation to what is more commonly referred to as ‘sham marriages’.

Mezals was found not guilty on this charge while the jury failed to reach verdicts on the other defendants.

Valujevs and Mezals are due to be sentenced this afternoon (December 19).

Detective Chief Inspector Donna Wass, who led the investigation, said: “Valujevs and Mezals ran an illegal operation that left many people in abject poverty and debt and a feeling there was no way out of their situation.

“The defendants promised their victims a better life in the United Kingdom with well-paid work, but instead placed them in over-crowded accommodation and controlled their work and debt.

“They ruled through fear - playing on their reputations to ensure their workers stayed in line and did not seek outside help - and approached the exploitation of people as a business opportunity.

“I hope the outcome of this case shows how seriously we take these matters and will encourage other victims of exploitation to contact police.”

GLA Chief ExecutivePaul Broadbent said: “It is pleasing that the defendants in this case have been exposed as modern-day slave drivers and will now face punishment for their heinous crime. This investigation also shows how effectively different organisations with different remits can come together with the over-arching objective of protecting vulnerable people.

“The case opened up other abuses in the supply chain which have since been dealt with. More than 80 exploited workers were rescued, five licences have been revoked and another refused by the GLA. One revoked licence holder has been convicted of using the services of an illegal gangmaster and received a suspended prison term and a community sentence.

“I am also very grateful to the general public, as they are our eyes and ears, helping us to identify and work with other partners to tackle what is clearly taking place within our communities.”

In early 2013, a joint agency campaign called Operation Pheasant was set up to tackle homes of multiple occupancy and poor living standards affecting economic migrants, mainly from Latvia and Lithuania, in the Wisbech area.

Pheasant revealed large-scale labour exploitation of workers, many of whom were vulnerable and at risk of serious harm. Operation Endeavour was then set up as a joint investigation with the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA), with the aim of identifying the exploiters and bringing them to justice.

On October 15 last year, police and the GLA led a day of action with assistance from the National Crime Agency and Fenland District Council, during which Mezals and others were arrested. Valujevs was arrested three days later having been traced by local officers.

The day of action involved more than 300 staff visiting 24 addresses. A reception centre for exploited workers was set up which received more than people, 37 of whom were accepted into the national referral mechanism for trafficked and exploited people. Others elected to remain local and were signposted to legitimate gangmasters and housing providers.

Following the day of action, two March-based licensed gangmasters, Roberto Mac Ltd and Slender Contracting Ltd, had their licenses suspended. Two days later, another licensed gangmaster, MAS Recruitment, had its license suspended following further enquiries.

In December last year, Slender Contacting Ltd and MAS Recruitment both had their licenses revoked with immediate effect preventing them from operating in the GLA regulated sector.

In March, Martyn Slender, 46, of Steeple View, March, appeared at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court. He pleaded guilty to and was convicted of contravening the Gangmasters Licensing Act by using unlicensed gangmasters to supply labour. He was jailed for 12 weeks, suspended for a year, and ordered to complete 200 hours’ unpaid work in the community.

ENDS

Press release issued in partnership with Cambridgeshire Constabulary by GLA Communications and Information Officer Paul Fearn. For more information contact 0115 959 7069 or email communications@gla.gsi.gov.uk.

Notes to editors

1. The GLA operates throughout the UK and is a Non-Departmental Public Body.

2. The authority was formed in 2005 in the wake of the Morecambe Bay cockle picking disaster when 23 Chinese workers drowned on the sands.

3. The GLA licences companies that supply labour (gangmasters) for agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering as well as all associated processing and packaging.

4. Its main strategic priorities are to prevent worker exploitation, protect vulnerable people and tackle unlicensed and criminal activity.

5. Under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act (2004), it is illegal both to operate as, or employ the services of, an unlicensed gangmaster.

http://www.gla.gov.uk/

Similar Articles

Fenland gangmasters receive prison terms

square green fill

Press release 23 December 2014 Fenland gangmasters receive prison terms

Click here to return to the top of the page

© 2023 Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority

  • Privacy & Cookies
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Accessibility
  • Sitemap

Powered by 10 Digital