A Bulgarian gangmaster has had his licence revoked after bringing in workers to the UK on a bogus posted workers scheme and then taking a huge cut of the workers’ wages for himself.

Kostadin Todorov of Todorov and Co Ltd, based in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, failed in his appeal to overturn the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) ruling and will be prosecuted if he attempts to provide further workers without a licence.

The workers, all Bulgarian nationals, had been supplied to fruit farms in the Arbroath, Angus and Cambridgeshire regions had reported to the GLA that they had to pay 16 per cent of their salary to Todorov - as well as Todorov making a weekly charge to the farmers he supplied his workers to - and neither the workers nor the GLA could find any explanation as to why this needed to be paid.

Even when the workers received their money it was often late and some did not receive payslips and holiday pay, according to the GLA.

Although Todorov maintained the workers had been correctly “posted” to the UK to work in the agricultural sector, the GLA investigation - which involved two GLA officers travelling to Bulgaria in pursuit of their enquiries - uncovered that the applications for Todorov’s workers to be posted to the UK had been turned down by Bulgarian authorities, as the way the workers would be supplied did not meet the requirements for the Posted Workers Scheme.

As well as “exploiting” his workers, Todorov’s actions caused concern and hardship to the UK farmers who entered into contracts with him, as they were faced with large National Insurance demands associated to workers' wages which had not been met by Todorov.

Other issues uncovered included the fact the vast majority of workers had not been given a copy of their contract, with some being asked to sign blank documents on a bus prior to leaving Bulgaria.

All of the workers concerned returned to Bulgaria after the GLA commenced enquiries in August 2008 and some have taken up matters regarding unpaid wages by Todorov and Co through authorities in their own country.

Paul Whitehouse, chairman of the GLA, said: “I have sympathy for the workers who took the job in good faith, but none for Mr Todorov. His actions have harmed the workers and also brought financial penalties on the farms that he supplied.”

Topics