Criminal charges filed against brokers who brought in Chinese cleaners

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The CEO of the Sevirita company and his wife are to be charged in connection with bringing Chinese cleaners to work in Finland.
      The prosecution in the case says that the two charged 50 Chinese citizens large amounts of money, promising jobs and training in return. The work and the training never materialised.
      The two deny committing any crime. The trial is to take place in Helsinki. Sevirita filed for bankruptcy at the beginning of the year.
     
The Chinese cleaners have said that they paid EUR 8,000-13,000 for a job.
      Prosecutor Antti Simola says that the company promised them jobs with the international cleaning service company SOL, as well as language courses and other training.
     
Sevirita had drawn up a contract with SOL for the recruitment of Chinese cleaners.
      According to SOL, the contract stated that the fees that Sevirita would impose on the Chinese should be reasonable.
      The prosecution feels that the fees were unreasonable.
      “Some people got some kind of work, but most got nothing. People lost their money, which led to a difficult return home”, Simola said.
      Many of the Chinese had borrowed money to get to Finland.
     
The prosecutor says that the main figure in the alleged crime is the Finnish CEO of Sevirita.
      His Chinese-born wife recruited people in China to work as cleaners.
      The defendants face considerable demands for damages. The Chinese victims in the case have petitioned Helsinki District Court to seize EUR 762,000 of the defendants' assets.
      Police also questioned a few representatives of SOL in the case, but concluded that they had committed no crimes.
      The police do not feel that SOL is responsible for the activities of its contract partner Sevirita.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Police suspect that 58 Chinese cleaners had to pay brokers thousands to get work in Finland (3.3.2009)

Links:
  SOL

Helsingin Sanomat