A Melbourne doctor and business owner has been found guilty of forced labor offences, after he paid a refugee $10 an hour to complete “physically taxing work” and threatened the man when he complained.
A County Court jury on Monday returned a guilty verdict against Seyyed Farshchi for causing a person to remain in forced labor and conducting a business using forced labor.
The jury cleared Farshchi’s wife, Naghmeh Mostafaei, of aiding and abetting him.
The trial centered around the conditions at the Candoo Confectionery shop which was owned by the pair and sold Persian sweets in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill.
Prosecutors alleged the refugee was subjected to forced labor conditions, spending three months working for free before his wage was increased to $10 an hour.
On the opening day of the trial, prosecutor Nicholas Papas KC said the refugee endured long hours and “physically taxing work” between 2015 and 2017, and was then threatened by the couple when he complained about his conditions.
Farshchi was accused of using a “carrot and stick” approach — on the one hand promising to help the man secure a visa, but on the other threatening to report him to authorities for working illegally.
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