A director at Leisure Clothing told an inspector from the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations that he kept the salaries and passports of employees in a safety deposit box because he feared they would escape, a court heard this morning.

Antoine Grech, a former inspector at the department, said he spoke to director Bin Han, and the factory's HR manager, during an inspection at the factory carried out in the light of claims by three Vietnamese people who were caught trying to leave Malta with false documents.

The Vietnamese claimed they were exploited at the factory where they worked long hours and had only been paid €600 between November and July as the bulk of their salary was held by the factory.

Mr Grech said Mr Han told him employees could apply for their salaries by filling in an application. Mr Grech asked for copies of these applications but they were never submitted.

Mr Han added that he provided employees with food and lodging and deducted them from their wages. He denied that they worked excessive hours but never presented time sheets, he said.

Police Inspector Joseph Busuttil informed the court that the safety deposit box was fictitious and referred to the bank account of Leisure Clothing.

Not covered by collective agreement

Mr Grech said the shop steward told him that Maltese workers had no problems but she did not know about the situation of foreigners. He said the collective agreement covered all employees but there was "an exception" for Asian workers.

He was testifying before Magistrate Carol Peralta in the complication of evidence against Mr Han, 46, from San Gwann and Jia Liu, 31, from Birzebbuga, who stand charged with human trafficking and the exploitation of Chinese and Vietnamese people working for their company based in Bulebel.

Mr Han, who has Maltese nationality, is the company's managing director while Mr Liu is Chinese but has been living in Malta for four years.

They are also charged with misappropriating the employees' wages, failing to pay the employees their wages, overtime and allowances and failing to comply with employment conditions.

Complaints dating back to 2007

Romina Veneziani, from the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations, said that, on July 27, she received an email from Assistant Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar regarding three Vietnamese people who claimed they were owed money from their employer.

In her experience she never came across a situation of employers keeping part of salaries or holding passports.

Files showed that in 2007 the department spoke to the director of the factory and there was an agreement for the factory to open bank accounts for the employees. Some accounts were opened. Back then, she said, there were complaints after which department officials were sent to the factory to inspect it. She did not work there at the time.

Elizabeth Borg, a lawyer who works with the department, said that on September 5 she wrote to the Police Commissioner to inform him that the department was investigating the salaries issue and asked him to investigate whether there was a possible case of human trafficking.

The human trafficking issue emerged after Mr Grech's inspection.

Asked by the defence lawyers what the elements of human trafficking were, she said she did not know. She said she asked police to look into whether other laws were broken. The department consulted representatives from the Attorney General's office before the letter was sent.

After the incident another employee of Leisure Clothing opened a claim with the department in August also claiming unpaid salaries, bonuses, overtime and allowances. More recently, in late November, another five employees filed similar complaints.

"Help me please"

Inspector Darrin Buhagiar, based at the immigration section, said that on July 26 he was informed by sea port police that three Asian people tried to get onto the Catamaran to Sicily.

Their documents were false Italian documents. Investigations revealed they were Vietnamese whose Visas were valid and had been issued for work purposes to work with Leisure Clothing Factory represented by Mr Han.

One of the three, a woman, looked anxious and asked for a paper to write something down.

She wrote: "I want translation Vietnamese. Help me please. I don't want to see boss. Boss china no good. Please help me". She also wrote "factory China" and "please no call factory, not now".

They wanted help because they were underpaid. They wrote that  "I work 30 day 200 -  300 euro".

When an interpreter was called it emerged that Mr Han invited them to come to Malta and they applied for a Visa from Beijing (valid from November 2013 till September 2014) that, according to normal practice, was issued on their name for work purposes.

They said they made use of false Italian documents because their Vietnamese documents were held at the factory "under lock and key".

They did not want to tell their employer that they wanted to escape from Malta. They were scared and did not want to work there any longer because they were being exploited, he said.

They told him they worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week and were fed by factory and slept there. They did not earn enough.

The three people were arraigned and got a suspended sentence for the possession of false documents. The inspector then referred the case to the Vice Squad and the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations.

Proof of human trafficking

Magistrate Peralta put off the case for continuation to tomorrow at 10am. He wanted to hear more witnesses to be able to decide whether there was sufficient evidence for the indictment of the accused.

He said he was concerned that the human trafficking charge may not be sufficiently proven as there were doubts as to whether employees were given the money and documents, held by the factory, if they asked for them. On the other hand, he said, he was concerned about the claim that Mr Han said these were held so workers would not escape.

Inspectors Joseph Busuttil and Silvana Briffa are prosecuting.

Lawyer Edward Gatt and Pio Valletta are representing the accused while lawyers Katrine Camilleri, Michael Camilleri, Karl Briffa and retired Judge Philip Sciberras are appearing in parte civile.