Govanhill trafficking trial hears sisters sold to two Pakistani men

A woman has told a trafficking trial that she was sold to a man after she was brought to Glasgow.

The 25-year-old woman said she and her sister were brought from Slovakia to the city by a woman called Helena Cicova who told them there was work in Glasgow.

The witness told the High Court in Glasgow that after they arrived she and her sister were sold to two Pakistani men.

She said her sister was then taken to Ireland where she married the man. The witness said she contacted her sister. She said a man, Vojtech Gambor, took her to Ireland to stay with her. The witness said she never married as the man she was sold to was not allowed to go into Ireland.

Vojtech Gombar, 61, Anil Wagle, 37, Jana Sandorova, 28 and Ratislav Adam, 31, all deny trafficking women into Scotland for prostitution and slavery.

Prosecutor Kath Harper, asked the woman: “At the end of 2011 when you were at home in Trebisov with your sister did something happen?”

She replied “nothing happened. When Helena arrived she came to my family and told us she would like to take us to work.”

She said Helena said the jobs would be in a restaurant and also talked about a potato factory.

Ms Harper said “When Helena made the offer did you want to go to Glasgow?”

The woman said “No, but my older sister said when I finish school there will be no work. If there was work we should go, if not we should come back.”

She said Helena paid for the journey from Trebisov to Bratislava airport. She said she did not take any belongings as Helena said they would not be there for a long time and she would buy them dresses if needed.

She said there was no work for them in Glasgow. And she slept in the corridor of Helena’s flat for two or three months.

She said Helena had a cousin in Glasgow called Voytech Gombar – whom she knew as Voyto - and she and her sister would go to his flat quite often.

She said she and her sister were sold.

Ms Harper asked “Who sold you?”

She replied “Helena but I was told by her cousin Vojto.”

Ms Harper asked “Who did she sell you to?” and the witness said: “ I was sold to another person in London. He could not travel to Ireland because he was forbidden.”

Ms Harper asked “How much did they pay?”

She replied “I don’t know she never showed us.”

She was asked if she ever met the man she was supposed to marry who was banned from Ireland. She said “Yes, He did not have a visa.”

She said her sister got married on 26 June 2012.

The court heard from Detective Constable Jack Cuthbert was said that he interviewed Gombar and Wagle on February 9, 2017.

Gombar denied any involvement in people trafficking and prostitution of vulnerable women.

Wagle told the officer, who is a member of the human trafficking department, that he did not buy a woman for 10,000 Euros outside Primark in Argyle Street, Glasgow.

The trial continues.

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