A man accused of being part of a trafficking gang who threatened to “make children disappear” has been fully committed for trial and remanded in custody.
Petrica Obreja, 37, appeared in private at Perth Sheriff Court on Friday in connection with allegations of exploiting foreign workers within Scotland.
He appeared on a petition alleging he and others posed as agency workers to lure Romanian nationals to Scotland to work as part of a human trafficking scam.
Obreja, who was remanded after a Crown appeal, is alleged to have been part of a gang conning migrant workers into working 14-hour days for a few pounds a week.
He and the others are alleged to have deliberately mistranslated documents during an operation lasting more than two years and targeting ten victims in Perthshire.
Control of passports
The petition alleges Obreja – along with Stelian Neacsu, 53 and Gabriel Dogeanu, 39 – forced workers to harvest crops for minimal wages in and around Blairgowrie.
It is alleged the offences were committed between 1 January 2019 and 30 April this year on Jessie Street, Altamount Park, Leslie Street and Coralbank Crescent, Blairgowrie.
All three accused are alleged to have lied about working for a recruitment agency, deliberately incorrectly translating documents from English to Romanian.
They are said to have taken control of identification documents and passports belonging to ten people and induced them to pay money in exchange for employment and accommodation.
It is alleged that on some occasions, the victims were not paid wages and had money withheld from them, or were only paid a few pounds per week despite the long working days.
Threat allegations
All the accused are said to have behaved in an intimidating manner by repeatedly making threats to the ten people, saying they and their children would disappear if they did not sign paperwork.
They allegedly falsified documents and drove to various locations where the 10 people worked, with the intention of them being exploited.
A separate charge alleges that they facilitated the transfer of workers from Romania to the UK, pretended to take them to London, arranged substandard accommodation, charged them extortionate fees for travel, utilities and cleaning.
The charge also alleges they secured control of the migrants’ finances, causing them to suffer financial hardship.
Neascu and Dogeanu, of Coralbank Crescent, were fully committed for trial at Dundee Sheriff Court earlier this week and were freed on bail.
A woman who had originally faced the same charges was liberated by prosecutors.
Obreja, of Altamount Chalets, Coupar Angus Road, Blairgowrie, appeared on Friday at Perth Sheriff Court and was remanded in custody and fully committed.
