THE wife of an alleged gang- master accused of luring a dozen Romanian "slave" workers to Northern Ireland had some of their wages paid into her bank account, a court has heard.
Prosecutors claimed Christina Covaci (29), used earnings from hungry and exhausted victims for her own purchases, including the insurance on a car used to transport them to and from long shifts at a factory and elsewhere.
The mother-of-three faces charges of arranging to acquire and using criminal property, namely cash, in connection with a suspected international people trafficking racket.
Refusing her application for bail yesterday, a judge described the entire alleged operation as involving "fairly substantial organised human misery".
Covaci, a Romanian national with an address at Hanover Street in Portadown, Co Armagh, was arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into the treatment of migrant workers discovered at another house in the town.
Nine men and three women allegedly enslaved and denied wages were rescued after police moved in on a three-bedroom semi-detached property on Charles Street back in August.
A total of 20 people were said to be living there in cramped conditions with little or no food and sub-standard hygiene conditions, the High Court heard.
Prosecution counsel claimed occupants had to use a single bathroom with no toilet paper.
Workers were given basic and insufficient food such as bread and cheap ham, it was alleged.
Some became ill, losing weight, feeling exhausted and having sore stomachs, according to the prosecution.
Covaci's 31-year-old husband, Ioan Lacatus, is accused of being the boss of the trafficking operation.
Her brother, Samuil Covaci, allegedly acted as his lieutenant who took on an "alpha male" role to control victims in the house.
Both men have been charged with 12 counts of human trafficking and forced labour. They are each further accused of acting as an unlicensed gang-master.
Mr Justice Maguire was told that when workers complained of a lack of food, Lacatus allegedly told them to eat stones.
A prosecution lawyer claimed that Christina Covaci opened bank accounts to which the alleged victims gave authority for their earnings to be paid into.
Seeking bail, defence counsel Andrew Moriarty sought to allay fears his client may flee by insisting she has lived in Northern Ireland for years.
But the judge told him: "If the Crown case is right what is going on here is a trafficking across borders, people being brought to Northern Ireland under some form of pretence as to the situation they are going to be living in and they are effectively treated as human slaves."