A buy to let investor who kept a group of men as slaves – making them work 90-hour weeks in return for takeaway food and alcohol – has now been ordered to pay back a total of £275,000 for his crimes.
Landlord Hargit Singh Bariana, who operated in Blyth, is currently serving an eight-and-a-half year jail sentence after he targeted vulnerable men who were left without homes due to alcoholism and drug addiction.
The victims were all white British men – which the lead investigator said should challenge people’s perceptions of these types of cases which had previously predominantly seen victims trafficked from abroad.
Bariana provided the men with accommodation, took all their housing benefit as payment and forced them to work in what the police call “despicable conditions.”
They were made to clean sewage pipes by hand and work 13-hour days in their bare feet, without receiving a wage.
Bariana would rely on their addictions and lack of accommodation to force them to work. If the victims refused he would then resort to violence and intimidation.
Under the Modern Day Slavery Act, Bariana was charged with eight counts of requiring a person to perform forced or compulsory labour between 2009 and 2015.
In May 2018, Bariana was found guilty by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court of six of those counts. He was also convicted of being concerned in the supply of Diazepam.
He was found not guilty of two of the force labour charges and also acquitted on a single count of robbery.
Bariana, who had denied all of the charges against him, was sentenced in June 2018 to eight-and-a-half years behind bars.
Now, following months of evidence gathering and hard work by officers, a Proceeds of Crime hearing was held at Newcastle Crown Court and a judge ordered Bariana to pay back a total of £275,000.
As part of this payment a number of assets have been seized, including two houses and a large quantity of cash.
The estimated value of assets seized from Bariana is close to £133,000. However, Bariana will still have to pay off the remaining money ordered by the Judge.
Inspector Billy Mulligan, one of the leading officers on the investigation, has praised the dedication of the officers involved and the bravery of the victims.
“Hargit Bariana preyed on vulnerable victims for his own gain and their consistent bravery and strength during this whole process has been inspiring” says Inspector Mulligan.
“Hopefully his victims can find comfort knowing that Bariana is not only behind bars but has now had these assets taken off him. It should also serve as a warning to anyone who thinks they can take advantage of others for their own selfish gains.
“This hearing has been the result of months of hard work and late nights for officers. Their dedication to seeing full justice for the victims has been outstanding.”
%20-%20IMAGE%20Client%20Accounting%20%E2%80%93%20what%20are%20your%20options.jpg)
Join the conversation
Jump to latest comment and add your reply
This is a terrible story and I hope he gets everything that's coming to him. However with a headline and an opening sentence that mention landlord and buy to let investor, it only reinforces the cases for lobbying groups to say "look, look there's another one". You could just a easily say 'man who wore clothes' or 'man with nose on face'. His crimes stand on their own and have nothing to do with being a landlord.
The headlines always have a different story from the facts depending on how the police wanted to handle it. Unfortunately, we as btl are the current target not just from MPs, local council and now the police. That is not a btl. Its a crook who bought a house for his own crooked operations. Nothing to do with btl at all.
The RLA or NLA really should do something about this and get an apology
Please login to comment