For seven years, 16 people were enslaved by a gang from the Czech Republic who worked in the UK in McDonald’s restaurants, as well as in bakeries producing bread for London’s largest supermarkets. The BBC reports this.
All victims of the Czech gang at some point in their lives were vulnerable and tempted by the large profits promised by the “slave owners” in Britain; most of them were homeless or suffering from drug addiction. Earning several pounds a day, they used their earnings to maintain the gang’s luxurious home in the Czech Republic and premium cars. On several occasions the victims escaped but were located and taken back to the UK.
The publication highlights that McDonald’s did not notice the “warning signs” for at least four years.
In particular, the company did not pay attention to the fact that the salaries of several employees were transferred to other people’s bank accounts; Four people’s salaries totaling £215,000 were transferred to an account controlled by the gang. The “slaves” did not speak English and job applications were filled out by one of the bandits, who could even attend interviews as a translator. The victims worked between 70 and 100 hours a week at McDonald’s; one of the victims once worked a 30-hour shift. Several employees had the same registered office. All nine victims lived in the same terraced house in north London and worked in a bakery.
police sergeant Chris Accourtwho led the investigation into the Czech gang, said “huge opportunities” had been missed to identify slavery and alert authorities in time.
Former British Prime Minister Teresa Maywho now chairs the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, said the case is “frankly shocking” and shows that “big companies are not properly examining their supply chains.”
The trial against the gang members from the Czech Republic took place in 2019 and was later interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the investigation prohibited coverage of the criminal case at the time.
As reported EADailyResearch firm Kantar previously published an updated version of the Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking.
In first place was Apple, with a value of more than 1 billion dollars. Google is worth $753.5 billion and Microsoft is worth $712.9 billion. The Top 5 is completed by Amazon ($576.6 billion) and McDonald’s ($221.9 billion).
