On July 7, 2023, Gino was at the wheel of his van when he was checked by the gendarmes at the Amblainville tollbooth on the A16 motorway, in Oise.
On board, in addition to plasterboard, the police discovered two workers who turned out to be undocumented.
For these acts of “concealed work” and “employment of a foreigner not in possession of a work authorization”, Gino appeared this Thursday before the Beauvais criminal court.
On the stand, he began by assuring that he “did not work on a construction site”.
Recruited on the fly in front of a DIY store
“They just had to give me a hand to unload the plates to my son,” he says.
On the fact that they are undocumented, Gino says he ignored it.
“I know that Brahim and Yacine are Algerian but for me, they were in good standing.
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The investigation showed that Yacine had an Algerian passport but no residence permit.
Same thing for Brahim, who works in France and Portugal and carries out “missions on construction sites”.
That day, the two were waiting on “the Nanterre platform (Hauts-de-Seine)” next to a DIY store.
This is where some unscrupulous entrepreneurs come to recruit low-cost staff.
For the working day, Gino planned to give them 35 euros each.
“70 euros per day of work is exploitation”
“It was to unload, I didn’t consider it work,” he explains.
I was just going to go back and forth.
They won't catch me again.
» Responses which irritated the prosecutor.
“You would be an ordinary individual, the prosecution would perhaps not have prosecuted you but you tried to hide the truth,” he regrets.
You are a business manager, you know the obligations and it is a situation of hidden work with employment of an irregular foreigner.
I am disappointed that you did not admit the facts.
The construction industry provides hidden jobs that exploit human misery.
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“70 euros per day of work is exploitation,” he then repeats, asking for “a 3,000 euro fine.”
Me Baclet, defense lawyer, invited the court to “put the facts in context” ensuring that “the remuneration of 70 euros was like a coin given for a helping hand”.
He was not heard by the court which followed the prosecutor's requisitions.