A system of exploitation of seasonal workers discovered

Bari - Seizures, complaints and interdictory measures

In recent days, the soldiers of the Naval Station of the Financial Police of Bari have completed a complex activity regarding undeclared work, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Bari.

Having originated from an initiative control of a company that managed the lifeguard service within a bathing establishment, the investigations made it possible to ascertain the exploitation of the work performed by lifeguards and other figures hired on seasonal contracts, forced to return in cash part of the compensation received and certified on the pay slip. Cash which was then used to pay other workers illegally for the organization of musical events and anniversaries.

The investigations revealed a real system organized to exploit seasonal workers, mostly young people with their first work experience, in conditions of need and with complex social situations, such as to make them particularly vulnerable and attractive on the market, especially for unscrupulous and aggressive employers.

The labourers, in this case the lifeguards, were recruited by a person, known in the social context where the children live, who took on the responsibility of coordinating and replacing the workforce as needed. In the meantime, the employer was busy procuring new contracts, having on his side the possibility of offering particularly advantageous prices.

Four people ended up under accusation for the crime of criminal association aimed at the exploitation of labor (CAPORALATO), including an employment consultant, complicit in having "adjusted" the pay slips to make ends meet.

The redetermination of work performance by the yellow flames made it possible to quantify actual gross wages of between €2.00 and €5.00 per hour, well below the minimum thresholds established by the applied National Collective Agreements.

At the end of the investigations, the Judicial Authority imposed a disqualification measure prohibiting the employment consultant from carrying out the activity, while the sole director of the company was subjected to a personal disqualification measure prohibiting him from carrying out the entrepreneurial activity. Furthermore, the entire company complex was placed under preventive seizure, consisting, among other things, of properties, cars, financial relationships and a state concession, subsequently entrusted to a judicial administrator.

The scourge of labor exploitation is, unfortunately, an increasingly frequent phenomenon that involves numerous sectors of the maritime economy; therefore it seems appropriate to urge all those workers who consider themselves exploited or in any case all those who are aware of it, to report such situations to the Judicial Authorities, the Financial Police or other Police Forces, to eradicate a phenomenon that appears to be widespread.

In full implementation of the exclusive prerogatives of the "Sea Police", delegated by Law 177/2016 (so-called Madia Decree), in fact, the Corps guarantees decisive action to prevent and combat crimes perpetrated by sea, making it possible to safeguard environmental resources, public health and the healthy economy of the territory.

On the basis of the principle of presumption of innocence, the possible guilt of the people involved will be definitively ascertained only where the irrevocable sentence of conviction occurs.

The dissemination of this press release has been authorized by the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Bari in compliance with the provisions of Legislative Decree no. 188/2021, deeming that there is a public interest in information with regard to the safety of the community

Last update: 12-08-2026, 09:42

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