Two men from Eastern Europe have been jailed for 13 and 11 years respectively for human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation, in the first conviction of its kind in the State.
Georgijs Poniza, 37, from Latvia, and 30-year-old Armen Pogosyan from Uzbekistan of Armenian nationality, were sentenced to a combined total of 24 years in prison, reports RTE.
They pleaded guilty to human trafficking, money laundering and forgery offences committed between December 2020 and October 2023.
Seven victims — one woman and six men — were recruited through deception in Latvia, having been promised employment, a good salary, accommodation and “a better life,” reports RTE.
Approximately €750,000 in wages was taken from the victims, who ranged in age from their 40s to 60s, Donegal Circuit Court heard.
One victim said he was “treated like a slave and an animal,” while another said “it was like a slave trade,” reports RTE.
Victim Mariss Lipiens, speaking through an interpreter, told media he was happy with the outcome and urged other victims to seek help.
“I would like to say thanks to gardaà in Ireland for their support, for serving the law, for helping me and other six victims of this case of human trafficking,” he said, reports RTE.
“I’m happy [with] how this case was dealt about the human trafficking and how fair and independent it was served.
“I would ask others to begin checking of their employment papers. If there are other victims who come across similar problems, they need to seek help from gardaÃ,” Mr Lipiens concluded, reports RTE.
Judge John Alymer said both Poniza and Pogosyan played a leading role in the enterprise and acted in the expectation of very substantial financial gain.
He said there was a high degree of planning, a substantial degree of threat and menace, and use of threats against victims and their families back in Latvia, reports RTE.
He noted the number of victims, the psychological harm they endured and the ongoing impact it continues to have on them.
He said serious medical conditions had been ignored, noting that one man who escaped suffered an epileptic fit on the day he got away, reports RTE.
The court heard both accused had taken advantage of victims who were vulnerable, living in impoverished conditions, and had been recruited on the promise of a better life in Ireland.
“You provided them with extremely substandard accommodation, completely inadequate winter heating, minimal privacy and no proper bedding,” Judge Alymer said, reports RTE.
He said the victims suffered extreme humiliation and described being treated like property, animals and slaves.
He said that once work stopped, victims were left homeless and scavenging in bins for food, and he noted the “harrowing victim impact statements,” reports RTE.
In respect of Poniza, Judge Alymer noted he had entered a late guilty plea, had no previous convictions and made some admissions during his 12th and 13th interviews.
He also noted his personal circumstances, his previous work record and his expression of remorse through counsel, reports RTE.
In respect of Pogosyan, Judge Alymer described him as an “enthusiastic assistant” and noted he had entered a late guilty plea, had no previous convictions, had been productively employed prior to offending and was helpful during interviews.
Judge Alymer noted that Pogosyan appeared to be less violent than his co-accused and had acted under his direction, and imposed identical headline sentences of 13 years on both men while suspending the final two years of Pogosyan’s sentence to account for mitigating factors, reports RTE.
The prosecution was led by Patricia McLaughlin SC, with Fiona Crawford BL, instructed by State Solicitor Kieran Dillon.
Ms McLaughlin SC said during the sentencing hearing that the case represented the first conviction of its type in the country — human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation, reports RTE.
One victim had attempted to escape four or five times but was caught and beaten on each occasion, suffering injuries inflicted to avoid visible bruising.
“I felt like … a prisoner because they would not let us go anywhere,” one victim’s impact statement read, reports RTE.
The court heard the criminality began in December 2020 and continued until October 2023.
Ms McLaughlin said the first victim presented at Store Street Garda Station in Dublin on 25 April 2022, alleging he had been trafficked from Latvia for labour exploitation, reports RTE.
Six other victims subsequently came forward. All were found to have been susceptible to being trafficked and had little or no English.
The victims were not informed they were travelling to Donegal until after they arrived at Dublin Airport, reports RTE.
They were provided with substandard accommodation, controlled and rented by the defendants in Rossnowlagh and Ballyshannon, with some victims given no bedding and forced to sleep on mattresses on the floor, having to allocate part of their minimal pay to purchase bedding themselves.
People were like ‘fish in a can’
One victim said the people were like “fish in a can” in the property, adding that the accused dictated the victims’ movements, as they rarely left the accommodation due to a language barrier and a lack of transport.
Gardaà noted that food was limited during a property search in October 2023, with the court hearing of one instance where a victim walked 5km for food that had been labelled for disposal at a commercial premises, reports RTE.
One victim said he “felt like he was treated like a slave and an animal.”
Both Poniza and Pogosyan had been due to stand trial the previous year, with the trial adjourned after a jury was empanelled before both defendants subsequently entered guilty pleas, reports RTE.
The court heard victims were given oversized footwear, inappropriate clothing and were often transported to locations in the west, northwest and Northern Ireland to work at one business.
Subsequently, the victims began employment at a separate business in south Donegal and were transported to and from work by the defendants, reports RTE.
Some victims finished work at 4am while others began at 8am, often waiting four hours for transport and frequently sleeping on the workplace floor.
Detective Garda Patrick Kelly of Donegal Town Garda Station said the victims never received payslips and that their PPS numbers were controlled by the accused, reports RTE.
He said victims were not aware that emergency tax had been paid on their wages and outlined how the accused maintained control of victims’ wages through shell companies.
When the employer in south Donegal ended the arrangement, the accused sought employment for the victims at another business in Sligo, which declined, reports RTE.
The court heard both businesses had cooperated with the investigation, with a statement from the second business noting that staff shortages had previously been filled by agency staff.
Victim says accused were ‘slave owners’
One victim labelled the accused “slave owners,” adding that threats of violence were issued when they disobeyed orders.
The court heard that victims had witnessed the accused interacting in a friendly manner with local gardaÃ, leading them to believe there was a close relationship between them, reports RTE.
They felt the defendants had damaged their reputations by portraying them as alcoholics.
Given the language barrier, the Latvian victims did not understand these conversations and felt they could not approach local gardaà about their situation, reports RTE.
One victim who attempted to escape was penalised for drinking, had money deducted after travelling to Dublin and was unable to book flights home as he had no bank account.
He was assisted by the Latvian Embassy but was threatened by Poniza by phone and returned on the promise that things would improve, reports RTE.
After he arrived back at Dublin Airport, he was repeatedly assaulted in the back of a car on his journey to the northwest and his passport was seized and used to set up a company.
The court heard he had planned to leave alongside another victim on 4 June 2022, but ended up living on the streets, indicating this “was better than the situation they were in,” reports RTE.
Another victim first came to the attention of gardaà when he was admitted to St James’s Hospital in Dublin following health complications.
The female victim said she was threatened and made to sign a debt bond after securing independent employment, reports RTE.
“I believed they picked people to work for them who would not answer back, who could not speak English, drug addicts and alcohol addicts. They did not believe we would change,” she said.
Another victim said he never received his full wages and alluded to violence against other victims, while others gave evidence of cards and accounts opened in their names, reports RTE.
One victim said he worked nights, was not allowed to rest during the day and was assaulted when he threatened to leave.
“I was like a slave. I could not speak English,” he said, describing the treatment as something resembling the former USSR regime, reports RTE.
The victim said both Poniza and Pogosyan gave up their own jobs once the victims began work.
“My take … why should they work when they can take our money?” he said, reports RTE.
Another victim said he ended up in hospital several times due to psychological pressure, describing one occasion where he had to walk more than 30km.
The victim said he struggled to manage his epilepsy diagnosis because of the environment and his lack of funds, reports RTE.
“They were torturing us … this is why I came forward … when I was coming to Ireland, they gave me hope. Now, I’m homeless and living on the street,” his victim impact statement read.
Another victim said that following an argument with Poniza about wages, he was assaulted and suffered rib injuries, describing wearing a belt around his rib cage for pain relief, reports RTE.
“I was treated like a worthless piece of st by Georgis and Armen … It was like a slave trade … they were using people for their own advantage,” one victim impact statement said.
The court heard more than €120,000 was spent by the accused in an amusement arcade, with a letter from the business recalling a large number of cashback transactions, reports RTE.
Poniza was born in Riga and came to Ireland in 2017, initially working as a mechanic and in a grocery store.
A forensic psychology report reflected that he had experienced a horrific childhood, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, with his father a drug addict who assaulted his mother, who herself abused alcohol, and Poniza having been placed in state care on numerous occasions, reports RTE.
He consumed drugs as a teenager to alleviate childhood trauma but had significantly reduced his drug use by the age of 22, coinciding with meeting his wife.
Their relationship has since broken down while he has been in prison, with little or no access to his children, the court heard, reports RTE.
The court was told that Armen Pogosyan had travelled to Ireland as an economic migrant with his wife hoping to improve their circumstances, and that his relationship with his wife has also broken down since his incarceration.
Both men, who are reportedly engaging well in prison, apologised to their victims through their legal defence, with Pogosyan having participated in various courses including restorative justice, baking and barista coffee making while incarcerated, reports RTE.
‘A day of action’
Poniza and Pogosyan were arrested on 24 October 2023 in what was described as “a day of action,” as arrests and searches also took place in Latvia.
Both men were detained at Ballyshannon Garda Station and subsequently charged on 28 October, with Poniza having six previous convictions and Pogosyan none, reports RTE.
Many witnesses had been scheduled to give evidence in a trial due to last up to six weeks late last year, before both men changed their pleas to guilty.
The court heard the investigation had been extensive and comprehensive, focused on allegations of human trafficking, reports RTE.
‘Appalling exploitation and suffering inflicted’
Following sentencing, Superintendent Siobhán Mollohan said the outcome marked the conclusion of one section of a significant investigation into human trafficking for labour exploitation.
“This investigation exposed the appalling exploitation and suffering inflicted upon seven vulnerable individuals for financial gain,” she said, reports RTE.
Supt Mollohan paid tribute to the seven victims, adding that the courage they had shown in coming forward and speaking to gardaà “cannot be overstated.”
“They had endured unimaginable hardship, fear and degradation over an extended period of time.
“They were subjected to miserable slave-like living conditions and stripped of their dignity and basic human rights by those who sought to profit from their vulnerability.
“They were sold a dream life in this country – a good salary and housing. A brighter future, a better life.
“Instead, they were forced to live in inhumane conditions in cold, damp accommodation without proper bedding.
“At one stage, one of the victims was left so desperate for food that they were forced to search through bins,” she said, reports RTE.
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