Three Romanians have been jailed for trafficking a vulnerable woman to Ilford where she was used as a prostitute.
In 2012, the victim – then aged 20 – was bought for €10,000 by Constantine Mihai, 37, and his wife Valentina and they took her to the UK against her will.
Constantin Mihai
The couple stole her identity documents and Constantin regularly beat her.
They also plied her with alcohol and cocaine so that she become compliant and dependant on her captors.
When Constantin returned to Romania, Valentina controlled the victim in the absence of her husband.
Valentina Mihai
The victim was given an iPhone linked to their iCloud accounts so that her communications and movements could be monitored at all times.
She was prevented from contacting her family and forced tell them that she didn’t want to see them anymore.
In April 2015, three years after she was brought to the UK, the victim escaped.
Having secretly saved money, she bought a plane ticket to Hungary where she had family connections and left her phone so she couldn’t be tracked.
A joint operation was launched between the Met’s Modern Slavery and Kidnap unit, the Romanian Police’s organised crime unit and Eurojust.
It was discovered that Constantin and his brother Catalin had an extensive network of women working for them in prostitution who were sending them and Valentina huge sums of money through money service bureaux and couriers.
Catalin Mihai
The trio were arrested in their home town of Targoviste in October 2017 and extradited to the UK last month.
The faced trial at Southwark Crown Court and were all convicted of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, controlling prostitution and money laundering.
Constantin, 37, was jailed for nine years.
His wife, also 37, was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment.
And Constantin’s brother Catalin, 32, was jailed for eight years.
DC Alex Snigorski from the Met’s Kidnap and Modern Slavery team, said: “The Mihais are a parasitic family living off the misery and suffering of others.
“They thought nothing of ‘buying’ women and abusing them for their own financial benefit, to fund their love of luxury cars and property.
“I would like to pay tribute to the enormous courage and strength of character that the victim in this case has shown throughout the trial.”
Tags: Redbridge, Ilford
