Nearly 80 people in Vietnam signed contracts for seasonal berry-picking jobs at a Finnish fur farm that says it never offered them work, Svenska Yle reports.
The owner discovered the applications when the Finnish Immigration Service asked him for information about the workers. He told Yle that someone had used his company’s name without permission.
One applicant, Ho Thi Duyen, said she and others from her area paid €500 each in advance. The recruiter then asked them to pay another €1,000 if they received visas. However, staff at Finland’s embassy in Hanoi told the applicants that the farm did not plan to hire berry pickers.
Yle examined contracts, visa applications and payment receipts. Several applicants and Finnish farm owners pointed to the same recruiter. He denied taking money and said the farm owner had agreed to let him recruit workers.
The Finnish Immigration Service knows of other cases involving false employment contracts. Tuuli Huhtilainen, who works at the agency, told Yle that the problem is growing, although the agency does not keep figures on it.
Read Svenska Yle’s investigation.
