VERONA – The accusation is of criminal conspiracy aimed at illicit intermediation and labor exploitation, one corporal is in prison and the other under house arrest. Yesterday morning, 13 June, the Carabinieri of Legnaro and those of the Verona Labor Inspectorate carried out two precautionary measures.
The investigations
The investigations began in November 2022 when a man originally from Morocco reported being exploited at work. Other compatriots with him were experiencing the same situation. He said he was forced to accompany other foreigners to work in a van, provided by the corporal, and many did not have a residence permit. From there the carabinieri reconstructed the organisation, the division of the roles of the various subjects.
The owner of the limited liability company was a 40-year-old Moroccan resident in Arcole and it was he who collected orders from local companies: with the help of a 42-year-old from Sona he chose the workers to send to the various workplaces, from the fields to ‘industry. He made use of some corporals, always Moroccans, who monitored the workers and paid them, acting as intermediaries. They too, despite being collaborators of the boss, were exploited.
The gangmaster system
The workers, around 50, were picked up by the corporals with vans in the early hours of the day (between 03:00/04:00 at night), along the roads or from the service area pitches, in the municipalities of Legnago, Cerea , Roverchiara, S. Bonifacio, Arcole and Bovolone and taken to various workplaces and were paid a few euros per hour. The illegal workers, who slept in dilapidated homes, abandoned farmhouses, often occupied illegally, located in various municipalities in the lower Verona area, were paid for in cash on a weekly basis, sometimes even less than what was agreed orally; furthermore, they were forced to work in often unhealthy environments, full of excrement (animal farms) without the necessary personal protective equipment. During the investigations, serious indications of guilt were acquired against six people who, at the time, had been referred to the Judicial Authority in a state of freedom. Therefore, on the basis of the serious circumstantial framework illustrated, the GIP Office of the Court of Verona, upon request made by the Verona Public Prosecutor’s Office, issued a precautionary measure with which: the 40-year-old manager of the company was placed in precautionary custody in prison, while the woman was placed under house arrest. Once the formalities were completed, the former was transferred to the Verona Montorio prison, while the woman was accompanied to her home to remain under “house arrest”.
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VERONA – The accusation is of criminal association aimed at illicit intermediation and exploitation of labour, one corporal is in prison and the other under arrest…
