THE owner of collapsed bed manufacturer Kozee Sleep Beds has been found guilty of human trafficking after a trial at Leeds Crown Court.
The business failed last May, with the loss of 180 jobs and owing £10.3m, after it lost major contracts with John Lewis and Next in the wake of police investigations into staff at the Dewsbury factory.
Mohammed Rafiq was found guilty of conspiracy to commission a breach of UK immigration law.
Hungarian men were employed, sometimes being paid just £10 a day, and were forced to live in houses with dozens of other workers.
Last year Ferenc Illes and Janos Orsos were jailed after being found guilty of human trafficking offences related to the supply of workers to Kozee Sleep Beds.
Mr Rafiq will now be sentenced on February 12.
“Clearly we welcome the conviction of Mohammed Rafiq,” said Det Ch Insp Warren Stevenson, of West Yorkshire Police’s human trafficking unit.
“A great deal of time and effort has been invested by police and partners in mounting this prosecution and in securing today’s outcome in court.
“I hope this conviction demonstrates to victims of human trafficking that the police and authorities will act on their behalf and are prepared to support victims throughout the legal process to secure justice for them.”
Mr Rafiq was a director of Kozee Sleep Beds until one month before it appointed Jonny Marston and Howard Smith of KPMG’s restructuring practice as administrators last May, by which time the business was insolvent.
The company had been profitable recently – its accounts for the year to December 2013 showed a pre-tax profit of £376,000 on £18m turnover – but the loss of John Lewis and Next contracts were fatal to the business.
