Two charged in Bulgarian berry picking scam
Two Bulgarian men were charged with trafficking on Thursday after luring fellow countrymen to Sweden with false promises of berry picking work and comfortable lodgings.
Back in Bulgaria three men had been promised well paid employment as berry pickers in Sweden by the two organisers.
According to Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet (SvD), they were told they would make €5 per completed box of berries. But once they arrived in Sweden they realised that they had been conned.
The three berry pickers were forced to camp out in tents in the woods and did not receive any payment for the work they did. Their documents were taken from them so that they would not try to go back to Bulgaria.
After having had enough of both poor living and poor working conditions as well as the bad treatment suffered from the two organisers, one man decided to attempt an escape.
He didn't succeed however, and as he was brought back, the two men put a noose over his head and forced him to run behind a moving car to avoid being dragged along.
”He ran away. When he returned he was put through that as punishment for trying to escape, ” prosecutor Christina Voigt at the International Prosecution Chamber (Internationella åklagarkammaren) in Stockholm told SvD.
According to Voigt this is a clear case of trafficking with foreign labour and she therefore filed charges against the pair in Hudiksvall district court on Thursday.
Comments
See Also
Back in Bulgaria three men had been promised well paid employment as berry pickers in Sweden by the two organisers.
According to Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet (SvD), they were told they would make €5 per completed box of berries. But once they arrived in Sweden they realised that they had been conned.
The three berry pickers were forced to camp out in tents in the woods and did not receive any payment for the work they did. Their documents were taken from them so that they would not try to go back to Bulgaria.
After having had enough of both poor living and poor working conditions as well as the bad treatment suffered from the two organisers, one man decided to attempt an escape.
He didn't succeed however, and as he was brought back, the two men put a noose over his head and forced him to run behind a moving car to avoid being dragged along.
”He ran away. When he returned he was put through that as punishment for trying to escape, ” prosecutor Christina Voigt at the International Prosecution Chamber (Internationella åklagarkammaren) in Stockholm told SvD.
According to Voigt this is a clear case of trafficking with foreign labour and she therefore filed charges against the pair in Hudiksvall district court on Thursday.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.