The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has completed an extensive probe into suspected cases of aggravated human trafficking in the construction industry.
The case involving 11 suspects accused of 21 different offences has been passed to prosecutors for consideration, the NBI said in a press release.
The allegations revolve around the activities of a billing service company operating in Finland which police believe was used to exploit light entrepreneurship workers in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The NBI suspects the workers were registered with the company as light entrepreneurs, but this was done without their knowledge.
"The aim of said arrangement was to avoid the employer’s responsibilities, reduce salary, transfer money from the victims to the suspects, and avoid employment pension insurance contributions. Light entrepreneurship enabled the artificial reduction of salary by cutting related costs," Detective Chief Inspector Marko Heinonen explained.
Victims subjected to conditions of forced labour
In its press release, the NBI said it suspected that an organisation consisting of different companies and individuals had deliberately deceived at least 21 victims into coming to work in Finland, but subjected them to conditions that would be considered to be forced labour.
The organisation had gained an estimated 2.3 million euros in criminal proceeds from this activity, the NBI said, but added that the number of victims is likely to be much higher.
"The suspects exploited the victims’ dependent status on their employer which was due to the lack of means and language skills. We also suspect that violence or the threat of violence was used on some workers," Heinonen said.
Investigating officers further believe that many victims were subjected to poor working conditions with long hours and with no possibility for breaks. In many cases, the employer also failed, either fully or partly, to pay the victims’ wages.
"They actually had to pay for accommodation, and different costs such as working clothes and equipment were deducted from their salary, contrary to what had been agreed. The employer gave fines to the victims and deducted sums from their salary for reasons such as absence, poorly done work or use of phone during working hours," Heinonen said, adding that the investigation uncovered evidence that the victims’ salaries eventually dropped so low that they ran into debt with their employer.
"Many victims found themselves in situations where they could not afford to return to their home country but had to continue working against their will," Heinonen added.
The victims in the case are believed to be mainly from Latvia, Estonia and Ukraine, while the suspects include 10 Estonian nationals and one Finnish citizen.
The NBI added that Finnish construction companies where the defendants worked are not suspected of any criminal offences.
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