Criminal gang sentenced for illegal migrant recruitment in Sainsbury's supermarkets

A criminal gang responsible for recruiting illegal migrants to work as cleaners across several Sainsbury's supermarkets in Oxfordshire and the south-west has been brought to justice.

Five defendants faced sentencing at the Oxfordshire Crown Court yesterday in connection with their roles in an organised crime group that profited from the facilitation, work placement and housing of around 40 illegal workers, primarily from West Africa.

Momodou Chune, 55, hailing from Oxford and who was also identified as the ringleader of the criminal group, was sentenced to six years in prison. Chune was found guilty of six counts of assisting unlawful immigration and three counts of concealing criminal property. The conviction followed an extensive investigation by the Home Office's Criminal and Financial Investigations (CFI) Unit.

Over a span of approximately a decade, the gang accrued an estimated £600,000 in profits from the wages of both illegal and 'ghost' workers. The majority of the illegal workers adopted multiple names and identities, with Chune devising fictitious employees to fraudulently claim additional wages from his employers. This was achieved by equipping illegal workers with multiple PIN numbers, which were exploited to calculate pay based on their alleged working hours.

Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick emphasised the significance of tackling such criminal activities, stating: "This is another example of the excellent work which Immigration Enforcement is carrying out around the clock to pursue offenders and bring them to justice.

"Illegal working not only encourages illegal migration – it damages our communities, cheats honest workers out of employment and defrauds the public purse as the businesses and workers do not pay taxes. That is why this government is cracking down on the practice by increasing our illegal working activity by 50 per cent and relentlessly pursuing the ringleaders."

Evidence revealed that while Chune was serving as an area manager for ISS Facility Services (ISS) and Exclusive Contract Services (ECS), he leveraged his position to hire illegal migrants as cleaning staff at nine Sainsbury's outlets in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire between 2006 and 2016. His actions encompassed the recruitment of individuals without the right to work, with their wages diverted into accounts controlled by Chune and his associates.

Additionally, Chune manipulated the living arrangements of certain illegal workers by allocating them rooms across his extensive property portfolio. These accommodations were not at all without cost, as Chune would deduct rent from the workers' cash earnings. Among the storeys that emerged, one worker disclosed being paid £5 an hour for cleaning while another was paid £250 a month in cash but had to part with £220 for rent.

Chune and his accomplices were also found guilty of laundering more than £310,000 from Exclusive Contract Service Ltd, channelling the funds to illegal workers and fabricated identities through a network of bank accounts, as per a government press release.

The sentencing extended to other members of the gang, including a 48-year-old woman, a 54-year-old woman, a 50-year-old man and a 41-year-old man, each found guilty of various roles in concealing criminal property or fraud.

Chris Foster, Deputy Director of Criminal and Financial Investigations at the Home Office, commended the efforts of his officers in dismantling the criminal network.

He said: "The leader of this criminal gang had ultimate control over these illegal workers to exploit them for personal gain. This has been a complex investigation and I want to thank my officers for their hard work, which has resulted in this crime group being stopped in their tracks.

"Immigration Enforcement will continue to dismantle criminal networks involved in illegal working and associated crime, putting offenders before the courts to feel the full weight of the law."