Bulgarian gang master charged with exploiting compatriots

The head of a Bulgarian working gang has been found out by UK based authorities. In yet another scandal involving Bulgarian migrant workers to hit the besieged UK agricultural industry, the man was found to be luring compatriots to Britain where he then exploited them.

The UK based Gangmaster Licensing Authority declared that the man would be prosecuted if he continued with the illegal practice of deducting large sums of money from the migrant worker’s salaries.

Kostadin Todorov, the Bulgarian head of Todorov & Co Ltd, has had his business license revoked and authorities have promised stronger measures should he continue to hire staff without the appropriate documentation.

The case came to light after workers approached officials claiming that Todorov was demanding 16% of their pay. The Bulgarian migrant workers, who had been lured to remote destinations such as Angus, Abroath and Cambridgeshire were unaware of how the law worked. Todorov had also been charging local farmers a weekly rate for the labour.

The workers were never issued with a pay slip and frequently experienced lengthy delays. Todorov has been accused of exploiting the faith and goodwill of both the Bulgarian workers and British farmers and formally charged with exploitation of workers.

The farmers face further costs to cover insurance charges from unpaid wages.

Todorov claimed that the workers had been sent to the UK under the required legislation for the agricultural sector. Inquiries by authorities later found that almost all had made applications for UK visas via Todorov but had all been rejected by officials in Bulgaria who had long since deemed Todorov a liability. All have been returned home and face an uphill battle to recover lost income from Todorov.