2024-07-13 23:53:40
(ANSA) – ROME, JULY 13 – They allegedly enslaved 33 Indian laborers, in exchange for the promise of a better future in Italy. For this reason, two Indian citizens living in Cologna Veneta, in the province of Verona, are now under investigation for enslavement, illicit intermediation and exploitation of labor. The Guardia di Finanza has executed a preventive seizure order for assets of approximately 475 thousand euros against the two men, owners of companies in the agricultural sector, with no formally employed employees and found to be total tax evaders. The investigations revealed that the two suspects had promised numerous Indian workers a better future in Italy, asking each of them for the sum of 17 thousand euros in exchange for entry into the national territory and a seasonal work permit. To meet the payment, the laborers were forced in some cases to pledge their family assets and in others to go into debt directly with the two gangmasters. Once they arrived in Italy, they were forced to work virtually without pay for between 10 and 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, since the wage of just 4 euros per hour set by the two compatriots was entirely withheld until the debt was completely repaid. To guarantee their total silence, they took away the passports of the laborers as soon as they arrived in Italy and imposed a ban on leaving the dilapidated houses where they were forced to live in precarious hygienic and sanitary conditions, threatening them with physical retaliation in case of refusal. From numerous stakeouts carried out by the financial police, it emerged that the workers, already at the first light of dawn, were made to get on, crowded together and hidden among the vegetable crates, aboard tarpaulin vehicles and then transported to the countryside and greenhouses located in the countryside of the lower Verona area. The victims, the Guardia di Finanza reported, were relocated to protected environments and started on future work and social inclusion paths. (ANSA).
2024-07-13 23:53:40