A ROMA community leader heading a south Belfast organisation at the centre of a police probe threatened to take women and their families "out of the country" if they speak to authorities.
Aurel Nicola, chair of the Romanian Roma Community Association of Northern Ireland (RRCANI), is heard making the threat in a secret recording of a church service held in August.
It came just days after The Irish News revealed police were investigating online claims involving RRCANI that alleged exploitation and intimidation of the Roma community.
The following month this newspaper revealed a tranche of Belfast Trust correspondence dating back months which exposed the scale of concerns raised by health chiefs.
Whistleblowers had contacted the trust alleging RRCANI was charging vulnerable Roma "large sums of money" for benefits advice – and "filling out benefits applications without their consent".
In response, the trust moved its Early Years services in May from RRCANI's offices in the Holylands area to another venue, citing "concerns regarding their governance, exploitation and community control".
RRCANI denies the allegations.
Following the online claims, intimidating posters appeared on walls in south Belfast which named and made false allegations about two people. The incident was reported to police.
The recording of Mr Nicola at a Roma service in City Church was obtained by BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show.
Mr Nicola appears to express anger that some Roma were talking to authorities.
Speaking in Romani, which has been translated, he said: “I’m going to bring the women in front of the community, and what you decide to do to them, that’s what we’re going to do to them.
“If it is to take them out of the country with their families… if not, they can stay here.
“Because you can’t live with people like this. Because they give away everything that is happening in the community. It is giving away everything.
“Everything I do the police know right away. Why is that?”
SDLP South Belfast MLA Claire Hanna and Green Party leader Clare Bailey, who have previously voiced their concerns, expressed alarm over the recording.
Ms Hanna described it as “shocking”, while Ms Bailey told the BBC: “I’m hearing that people and agencies have known about what you’re talking about today for years.”
In a statement to the BBC, Mr Nicola’s solicitors said their client is the leader of the Roma Pentecostal Church and “exercises some level of control in the spiritual wellbeing of the community.”
They said he spoke at a church meeting on August 19, adding that this was “a church service and not a political meeting”.
Mr Nicola “denies that any of these issues were dealt with in the course of his sermon”, they added.
The Nolan Show also heard claims that Mr Nicola’s son, Nicolae Nicola – the public face of RRCANI – was charging the Roma community for benefits advice.
In broken English, a member of the Roma community told the programme that Nicolae “has control” and has charged hundreds of pounds to complete benefit forms.
Nicolae Nicola’s lawyers strongly denied the allegations, telling the BBC in a statement: “Our client is engaged in assisting the Roma community, not in exploiting them.”
In September, The Irish News reported how Sinn Fein MLA Máirtín Ó Muilleoir had voiced his support for RRCANI despite Belfast health chiefs telling him of their concerns about the organisation weeks earlier.
Mr Ó Muilleoir wrote to the trust in May criticising its decision to move services from RRCANI to another location. He sought a meeting and outlined a press release he was issuing on the matter.
The trust, alongside Sure Start – which supports parents of young children living in disadvantaged areas – had been providing Early Years services for the Roma community at RRCANI's offices in the Holylands area.
Martin Dillon, Belfast Trust chief executive, responded to Mr Ó Muilleoir on June 8 and agreed to a meeting.
He said the decision was based on concerns “reported to us by individuals and partner organisations in relation to advice services delivered to RRCANI", and that "staff felt vulnerable while these issues were addressed".
He added: "I understand a senior member of my public health team contacted your office on June 1 to explain our position and to clarify the temporary nature of the measure we have taken."
However on June 11, Mr Ó Muilleoir posted on Twitter a link to an article in which he said Roma viewed the moving of services as “institutionalised racism”.
The article and tweet made no mention of concerns about staff welfare.
And in August when allegations involving RRCANI emerged online, Mr Ó Muilleoir tweeted that police had told him there were "no investigations underway", adding that he was "proud to stand with RRCANI".
Police later confirmed they were making enquiries after the online claims.
Asked about Mr Ó Muilleoir’s remarks, Sinn Féin said in September the party “wouldn't want to make any comment during a police inquiry".
However, the party said yesterday it suspended contact with RRCANI in August.
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TIMELINE
The Irish News revealed in September the extent of health chiefs' concerns over “exploitation" of south Belfast's Romanian community after obtaining a tranche of internal Belfast Trust documents.
Among the papers, officials set out a timeline of events surrounding the claims. The following details this timeline, as well as how the controversy emerged in the public domain:
January 2018: Sure Start raises concerns that clients claimed the Romanian Roma Community Association of Northern Ireland (RRCANI) had "charged them for the provision of advice services that should be free".
Sure Start – which supports parents of young children living in disadvantaged areas – and Belfast Trust were providing Early Years services for the Roma community at RRCANI’s offices in the Holylands area.
February: Officials meet with representatives from NISSA (Northern Ireland Social Security Agency) fraud and benefit uptake teams to "discuss the issues we were aware of and ways of providing alternative support to the Roma community that were free and legitimate".
"Fraud were unable to confirm if they were investigating what was going on in RRCANI but they did state that they were aware of everything we had told them," they add.
April 26: A Belfast Trust line manager is told in writing about concerns of "possible criminal activity taking place in RRCANI".
May 1: PSNI and NISSA are contacted about the concerns. NISSA advises in a phone call that "charging for benefit advice is not illegal and that unless people were prepared to make a statement there is nothing they can do".
May 11: Sure Start emails Belfast Trust to "advise formally about their concerns about what could be exploitative practice taking place in RRCANI".
May 17: Officials advise colleagues of meeting with PSNI's Modern Slavery Human Trafficking Unit and Economic Fraud Unit scheduled for May 31.
May 22: Meeting with Sure Start is held. "It was agreed that our presence in RRCANI was legitimising their exploitative practice, that the building was not fit for purpose and that we should temporarily remove services from RRCANI to protect our workers and the integrity of our organisations".
May 23: Meeting with LORAG (Lower Ormeau Resident's Action Group) is held to relay the trust's decision. Officials remove all confidential documents and staff from RRCANI premises.
May 25: Trust services for the Roma community resume at different premises.
August 2: Anonymous allegations involving RRCANI are published online.
August 11: PSNI confirms to The Irish News it is investigating "possible wrongdoing" following the exploitation allegations involving RRCANI.
August 23: The Irish News reports how intimidating posters appeared on walls in south Belfast which named and made false allegations about two Early Years staff. The incident was reported to police.
September 19: The Irish News reveals Belfast Trust papers exposing the scale of health officials’ concerns.
The newspaper also reports how a Sinn Féin MLA Máirtín Ó Muilleoir tweeted his support for the Romanian Roma Community Association of Northern Ireland (RRCANI) just weeks after Belfast health chiefs told him of their concerns about the organisation.
September 24: The Irish News reports how RRCANI attended Sinn Féin's ard fheis in Belfast – a week after health trust staff made Mr Ó Muilleoir aware of concerns.
October 26: The PSNI arrests a 40-year-old man in south Belfast in connection with its investigation into the exploitation claims and intimidating posters.
December 2: The BBC’s Nolan Show releases a secret recording from August in which a Roma community leader threatens to take women and their families "out of the country" if they speak to the authorities.
Sinn Féin says it suspended contact with RRCANI in August.
