Up to four years in prison suspended and very heavy fines were pronounced Thursday in Marseille at the Terra Fecundis trial, a Spanish company found guilty of circumventing European rules on posted work to send workers, mostly Ecuadorians, to the fields French.
Read also: Less controlled, social fraud has fallen
In his deliberation, the president of the Marseille Criminal Court, responsible for judging this case in which the Urssaf estimates to have been deprived of 112 million euros in social contributions, estimated that the three leaders of the Spanish company had "
put set up together and knowingly a business plan integrating the widespread use of fraud to ensure their profit, while resorting to a docile workforce unlikely to claim
”its rights.
26,000 employees concerned
The highest fine, of 500,000 euros, was imposed on the company Terra Fecundis, now renamed Work for All. A fine of 200,000 euros was decided against Terra Bus Mediterraneo, the subsidiary of Terra Fecundis which conveyed employees from Spain to the French farms where they were to work.
In total, between 2012 and 2015, Terra Fecundis had supplied more than 26,000 employees to various French farms, mostly South American and especially from Ecuador.
They were largely deprived of payment for their overtime, forced to work up to 70 hours a week for some, and housed in conditions in which "
we could not even accommodate animals
", had cracked the prosecutor Xavier Leonetti at the 'hearing in May.
The working conditions were so deplorable that certain operations were baptized "
Guantanamo
", in reference to the detention center of the American army in Cuba, or "
El Carcel
" (the prison), had then underlined the president of the court.
Four years in prison and 100,000 euros fine
Reading his judgment, the president of the court also denounced Thursday these French operators who “
were able to shamelessly benefit from the services of Terra Fecundis while letting others get their hands dirty
”.
The three Spanish managers of the company, Juan Jose Lopez Pacheco, his brother Francisco, and their partner Celedenio Perea Coll, found guilty of undeclared work, concealment of employees and bargaining, that is to say lending a hand- for-profit work, were sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of 100,000 euros.
To read also: Lawsuit for social fraud: justice wonders about "things a little hidden" by Terra Fecundis
Their four representatives in France, responsible for the logistics of the company on French soil, Anne Perez, Julie Mariotti, Wilson Sanchez Mera and Anne-Laure Mariotti, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to two years of suspended prison sentence and fines ranging from 5,000 to 40,000 euros.