Crime Boss Who Recruited Illegal Immigrants to Clean Supermarkets Jailed

Home Office says illegal network had been operating for 10 years

An undated police photograph of leader of the criminal group, Momodou Chune, 55, from Oxford, who was jailed for six years in the United Kingdom on Aug. 8, 2023. (Courtesy of Home Office)

The ringleader of a criminal gang that recruited illegal immigrants to work as cleaners in British supermarkets has been jailed for 6 years.

Momodou Chune, 55, from Oxford, was jailed after being found guilty of six counts of assisting unlawful immigration and three counts of concealing criminal property.

Oxfordshire Crown Court was told on Monday how authorities believe he had been running the illegal immigrant work racket in Sainsbury’s stores for almost 10 years before his activities came to light.

Four others were also sentenced over their roles in the organised crime group, which profited from the facilitation, work placement, and housing of around 40 illegal workers, mainly from west Africa.

The defendants were caught following an investigation by the Home Office’s Criminal and Financial Investigations unit.

It is estimated that over a decade of activity, the gang profited in the region of £600,000 from wages of illegal workers and “ghost” workers.

The majority of the illegal workers had more than one name and identity, as Mr. Chune created fake employees in order to obtain more money in false wages from his employers, according to the Home Office.

He did this by supplying illegal workers with multiple Personal Identification Numbers which were used to calculate an individual’s pay based on the record of when they logged on and for how long that person had worked.

Laundered Cash

Investigators found that, from 2006 to 2016, Mr. Chune had abused his position as an area manager for two companies—ISS Facility Services and Exclusive Contract Services (ECS)—to employ illegal immigrants to work as cleaning staff at nine Sainsbury’s stores in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire.

The 55-year-old recruited each of the illegal workers knowing they had no right to work.

Evidence showed he had control over what the workers were paid as he had their wages paid into his accounts and the accounts of those close to him.

He also controlled where some of the illegal workers lived by providing them with rooms across his multi-million-pound property portfolio.

The court heard Mr. Chune would pay illegal workers in cash but would deduct rent from those he housed.

This included one worker who was paid £250 a month in cash, however his rent to Mr. Chune was £220 a month.

Another illegal worker claimed he was paid £5 an hour cash-in-hand for cleaning.

Mr. Chune—alongside others in the gang—was found to have laundered more than £310,000 from ECS in wages to illegal workers and fake workers through multiple bank accounts.

Those sentenced alongside the crime gang leader included a 48-year-old woman who was found guilty of concealing criminal property alongside Mr. Chune to the sum of £31,685, and was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years.

Another woman, aged 54, was found guilty of concealing criminal property with Mr. Chune to the sum of more than £200,701. She was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

Complex Investigation

A 50-year-old man was also found guilty of concealing criminal property with Mr. Chune to the sum of £78,638, and pleaded guilty to possession of an identity document with intent. He was sentenced to 23 months imprisonment.

A 41-year-old man was found guilty by the court of fraud by abusing his position as a supervisor at ECS by receiving wages he was not entitled to, and was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years.

Commenting on the Home Office-led case on Tuesday, immigration minister Robert Jenrick said in a press release: “This is another example of the excellent work which Immigration Enforcement is carrying out around the clock to pursue offenders and bring them to justice.

“Illegal working not only encourages illegal migration—it damages our communities, cheats honest workers out of employment and defrauds the public purse as the businesses and workers do not pay taxes.

“That is why this government is cracking down on the practise by increasing our illegal working activity by 50 percent and relentlessly pursuing the ringleaders.”

The Home Office’s Deputy Director of Criminal and Financial Investigations Chris Foster said his team would continue to dismantle criminal networks involved in illegal working and associated crime.

“The leader of this criminal gang had ultimate control over these illegal workers to exploit them for personal gain,” he said.

“This has been a complex investigation and I want to thank my officers for their hard work, which has resulted in this crime group being stopped in their tracks.”