Two men jailed for human trafficking in first conviction of its kind in the State

Chris McNulty

Two Eastern European men who trafficked seven people to Ireland for work and subjected them to horrendous conditions have been jailed for a total of 24 years.

Georgijs Poniza (37) was handed a 13-year prison sentence and Armen Pogosyan (30) was given a similar sentence, but with the final two years suspended, when they appeared before Donegal Circuit Court in a landmark case.

This is the first conviction of its kind in the Republic of Ireland for human trafficking based on labour exploitation.

Some of the victims had to scour public bins for food, such were the conditions they were forced to live in.

The duo, of Assaroe Falls, Ballyshannon, were each before the court on 17 charges, including seven apiece of trafficking. They also pleaded to money laundering and forgery charges.

Judge John Aylmer, passing sentence on the pair, said it was clear that this was a joint enterprise and both men “played a lead role.”

Judge Aylmer said that both Poniza and Pogosyan had a very high degree of planning and premeditation. He said that there was a substantial degree of threats and menaces used with victims subjected to physical violence.

The victims, six men and one woman, lived either in a rural house in Rossnowlagh or in an apartment in Ballyshannon, where conditions were described as being “sub-standard” with the accommodation not heated and there being no bedding.

The court also heard that there was a total loss of wages across the offending period, between December 2020 and October 2023, of around €750,000 - a matter that was the subject of a money laundering charge on the two defendants.

'Significant psychological harm'

“There was a very significant psychological harm inflicted on the victims,” Judge Aylmer said.

“In some cases, the impact continues. Your offence had a very substantial negative impact on them.

“Some are left with lingering damage and a lingering sense of insecurity after what they suffered at your hands. You took advantage of the fact that they were all vulnerable people, and they lived in quite impoverished circumstances in Latvia. They were, therefore, all the more amenable to this type of exploitation.”

Last month at a sentencing hearing, Garda Detective Paddy Kelly told how the victims were initially recruited by deception in Latvia.

A male in Latvia - who is also subject to criminal proceedings in that country - promised them employment with a good salary, good housing and no bills.

Poniza and Pogosyan entered into an arrangement to supply workers to two companies in south Donegal. There is no criminality suggested against the companies, which cooperated fully with the investigation.

A man was told that if he moved to Ireland, he would be “covered in chocolate” such was the lifestyle he would enjoy.

He was promised that he would be paid between €50 and €70 per day, and he arrived in Ireland in March, 2021.

Fund deductions

However, he arrived in Ballyshannon and had to sleep on a floor on a mattress and said that people were “like fish in a can” in that property. He had to pay €100 a week in rent, despite being told that he would not have to pay rent.

They would be charged for travel expenses, and the accused would deduct money for vehicle repairs.

The court heard that they would charge the trafficked people for rubbish collection, even when there would be no collection. Bank cards in the name of some of the victims were obtained and used by the accused men.

They were even deducted funds to cover the funeral expenses of another worker, despite the Department of Social Protection paying those costs,

Judge Aylmer said they provided the victims with “extremely substandard accommodation, completely inadequate winter heating, minimal privacy, cramped shared accommodation and no proper bedding.

They left the people with very little money, and they were often forced to work long hours in poor conditions.

“The victims suffered extreme humiliation,” Judge Aylmer said. “They felt as if they were treated like priority, like animals, or worse, like slaves. They were left homeless, and some were left scavenging in bins for food.”

The passports of the victims were seized by the duo, who informed them that they were needed to manage tax affairs. Each of the employees had a payslip provided, but these were given to the accused.

This enabled them to control what money their victims would receive and allowed them to make deductions, while victims would be “fined” if they were found drinking alcohol in the properties.

One of the victims said that he was treated worse than a workhorse, telling how they were not allowed to rest and would be dropped off on the main road and made to walk to their house, at a rural location, after a long night shift at work.

“I felt that I had no rights,” he said, adding that he was regularly assaulted.

“I felt humiliated,” the man said and drew a comparison to the collapse of the USSR, where people who attempted to flee were beaten and brought back to their location.

Another man recalled how he ran away one night at 4am and said: “I was so happy that I left them and their slavery”.

Feeling 'mugged'

One of the victims remembered how he had to sleep on an inflatable mattress for months. The man said he was treated “like a worthless piece of sh*t”.

“I felt mugged by them,” he added in a victim impact statement. “The way that they treated people was like a slave trade. They were using people, using me, for their own advantage.”

A woman told how she was threatened and bullied and how the pair controlled their victims at all times. At one stage, the accused men made her sign a “debt bond” and she paid €100 a week until a total of €2,100 was paid over.

Pogosyan has no previous convictions, while Poniza has six, including five road traffic matters and one under the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraudulent Offences) Act.

Guilty pleas

Judge Aylmer noted that both men entered guilty pleas, albeit at a late stage, which spared the victims from having to endure a six-week trial.

Poniza, who was represented by Delia Flynn, is a married man and a stepfather to three children, but the court heard that as a consequence of this matter, the relationship has ended.

Judge Aylmer noted an “expression of remorse” from Poniza, which was previously issued through defence counsel, while he said that Poniza had a good work record, having trained as a mechanic, before his arrest.

Pogosyan, who hails from Uzbekistan and is of Armenian nationality, penned a series of letters to victims and to Judge Aylmer, detailing his apology, a previous court hearing heard.

Voluntary deportation order

Judge Aylmer said that Pogosyan’s remorse was apparent. He said he was aware that Pogosyan, who was represented in court by Fergal Kavanagh, was anxious to return home following his release. He has already completed a voluntary deportation order.

He said that while Pogosyan was an “enthusiastic assistant” in a joint venture, he was less violent and was under the direction of Poniza.

Pogosyan and Poniza have been in custody since their arrest in October 2023 when detectives swooped and arrested them.

Revenue documents and fraudulent documents in victims’ names were seized, as well as fuel cards and debit cards in the names of some victims.

Photos of the victims, as well as copies of various documents and IDs relating to them, were located on electronic devices which were seized from Poniza and Pogosyan.

Poniza was interviewed a total of 13 times by Gardaí and was “disparaging” of the victims.

It was only at the 12th interview that he made “certain admissions”, while Pogosyan gave mainly “no comment” answers during the course of 12 interviews at Ballyshannon Garda Station.

The court was told that the men have “no contact” with each other in prison.

Judge Aylmer set a headline sentence of 16 years in prison for each of the accused. Taking into account the guilty pleas and the mitigation, the total sentence was reduced to one of 13 years.

In the case of Pogosyan, the final two years were suspended on condition of him keeping the peace and being of good behaviour for two years post-release.