The director of a Ħal Far clothing company recruited 140 foreign employees, mainly Chinese and Vietnamese, to work in his factory. Most paid thousands in agency fees to come to Malta. On arrival, their passports were confiscated by representatives of the company.

They worked up to 14 hours per day, six to seven days a week. The police observed coaches picking up workers from their living quarters at 6.30am. They were transported to the factory and only ferried back at 9.30pm.

For their long hours of hard labour, they were given €150 every two months. They were not paid for overtime, vacation leave or sick leave. They were not paid for work on Sundays and public holidays. They were threatened that if they spoke to anybody outside the company they would be sent back home and would lose their deposit, face huge fees and possible imprisonment.

They were forced to live in communal rooms shared with five other workers and share a toilet. There were no bed sheets but only a summer blanket. Clothes had to be washed by hand and hung up to dry in the rooms. No NI contributions were paid by the company. The director misappropriated hundreds of thousands of euros owed to those workers.

In desperation, three Vietnamese workers escaped and attempted to board the catamaran to Sicily using false docu­ments. Their attempt to flee was remarkable considering they couldn’t speak Eng­lish, had little money and couldn’t get hold of their own passports. They were arrested. They were so terrified of the director that they asked the police not to inform their employer. They were swiftly prosecuted and condemned to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years.

Nguyen Van Giang also had his passport confiscated on arrival. He complained after he was not paid any wages. The director threatened him that he could either go back to Vietnam or work in a restaurant. For two months he worked in a restaurant but was only paid €350. When he complained the director confronted him. He insisted he wanted to be paid for his work and an argument ensued. The police were called.

Instead of assisting the Vietnamese worker, the police ordered him to pack and get into the car with one of the director’s employees. He was driven to the airport, where, instead of being helped, he was pushed by the police through a private entrance and kept in a room on his own.

In 2014, the factory director was charged with human trafficking, misappropriating wor­kers’ salaries and failing to comply with employment laws.

That director was Bin Han, who was photographed embracing Konrad Mizzi and his wife, Sai. He was represented by lawyer Pawlu Lia, who also represents Joseph Muscat and other prominent Labour Party members. The company was Leisure Clothing Ltd, a Chinese state-owned company which Michelle Muscat visited.

Leisure Clothing Ltd sponsored a ONE TV personality who appeared in promotional photos wearing Leisure Clothing’s Label C clothes. She opened Bin Han’s Label C boutique and was photographed with him. Former Labour MP Etienne Grech provided medical services to the company.

Bin Han claimed he had an agreement with the GWU that he could pay foreign workers less. An agreement signed by Bin Han and Josephine Scerri, GWU shop steward, was presented in court.

The employees worked up to 14 hours per day, six to seven days a week- Kevin Cassar

The evidence provided by a multitude of his workers was overwhelming. All gave a consistent story of their sweat shop conditions, their slave labour, of how they were deceived by Bin Han, cheated of their dues and intimidated and threatened with serious repercussions if they spoke to others outside the company. Even the court acknowledged that there was enough evidence of exploitation “which can be confidently attributable (sic) to the person of Bin Han”.

After eight long years, the court reached its decision. That decision was released just days before the general election, on March 21, 2022, when journalists were far too busy. Conveniently, the court decision went unreported.

Unbelievably, Bin Han was acquitted of human trafficking.

He was found guilty only of misappropriation of funds and of breaching employment laws. His pathetic sentence was two years’ imprisonment, suspended for four years.

The three Vietnamese workers who attempted to escape Bin Han’s inhuman slave labour received a longer prison sentence – three years – between them.

While Bin Han exploited his workers and cheated them of their wages, he received two salaries, one from Leisure Clothing Ltd and another from the mother company. In addition, he received a yearly performance bonus of €30,000. He signed a purchase agreement for a property in St Ursula Street, Valletta, for the price of €537,000.

When Police Sergeant Bernadette Valletta raided his home, Bin arrogantly challenged her: “Does the Maltese government know you are searching my home?” He had in his possession flight tickets to Rome and packed bags, ready to escape. He lied that the woman in his house was only a cleaner who couldn’t speak English. In fact, it was his girlfriend. She spoke English perfectly well.

When confronted about his confiscation of workers’ passports, he claimed that four workers’ representatives were responsible for safekeeping of passports. When passports were found in his office, he changed his version, claiming the Vietnamese workers had asked him to retain their passports. He then claimed that it was normal practice for Chinese companies to retain workers’ passports. He deceived workers, telling them that Maltese law allowed him to confiscate their passports.

He imposed intolerably long working hours, allowing only two days off per month. Workers had to inform the company two days in advance before taking sick leave, with the result that none took any. Salaries were miserable. Nguyen Thi Hien testified that for 12 to 14 hour days, six or seven days a week she was paid €278 per month.

The man who ruined the lives of hundreds of vulnerable workers gets to enjoy the proceeds of his crime. Those he’s destroyed are imprisoned and left destitute.