Trafficking gang jailed for 24 years

Friday, 5 October 2018 07:00

Members of an organised crime group which trafficked victims from Slovakia into Leeds have been sentenced to a total of over 24 years.

Between 2007 and 2013, members of the Cisar family coaxed a number of Slovakian men and women to travel to the north of England with the promise of better work and better lives. Several of the victims were homeless when they were lured to Leeds for work.

The Cisar family, along with Aurunngzeb Naseem and Mohammed Naseem, exploited the victims when they arrived, making them renovate and clean properties in return for pitiful wages – in one case, around £4 a day.

When the victims arrived, bank accounts were set up for them but they were forced to hand over account details, cards and PIN codes. The gang would then keep their wages for themselves, while also claiming benefits in their victims’ names.

One victim was paid just £3,000 for work over a three to four-year period.

The gang were convicted following a ten-week trial at Leeds Crown Court.

David Holderness from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “These victims were promised a better life in England with safety, security, and decent wages. Instead they found themselves living in a nightmare, being forced to work for next to nothing, and housed in very poor conditions while others exploited them without a single thought for their wellbeing.

“Exploitation was a lucrative family business for the Cisars. They lived comfortably off the forced labour of others, who they deliberately targeted knowing their victims were desperate to improve their lives.

“The victims were lured to this country, isolated by their inability to speak English, and intimidated into becoming a source of cheap labour. The CPS is immensely grateful for their support of this prosecution as without their testimony, both in person and by video evidence, today’s convictions would not be possible.”

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