UK modern slavery watchdog agency brings exploiters of vulnerable workers to justice using digital intelligence solutions
PETAH TIKVA, Israel and TYSONS CORNER, Va. and NOTTINGHAM, UK, November 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cellebrite DI Ltd. (Nasdaq: CLBT), a global leader in digital intelligence (DI) solutions for the public and private sectors, announced a closed case with the Gangmasters and Labor Abuse Authority (GLAA) which brought justice to people and companies who force manual labor.
As the agency expanded its mission to cover the entire labor market and strengthened its enforcement powers, its own digital forensics lab became a necessity. To launch their lab, GLAA Investigation Officers Richard Shrimpton and Tom Frost chose Cellebrite’s mobile forensics solutions for digital data examination, evidence collection and digital data collection.
The new digital forensics lab highlighted GLAA’s digital transformation in a case that reached court in mid-2022. In 2018, a GLAA investigator received a call from a licensed labor provider concerned about an individual working at a factory in Wales. The person, who was from Eastern Europe, told Southwestern GLAA investigators that he promised himself a job at a local bakery, along with adequate housing.
Instead, the exploiter placed the victim with exploiters who prevented showers, threatened the victim, and charged double the rent originally quoted. When the victim started working at the factory, the £500 weekly wage was deposited almost entirely into an account run by the exploiters, leaving the victim with an occasional £20 to live on.
Using Cellebrite’s collection and review solutions, investigators found photos of the victim on the exploiters’ phones, along with images of the victim’s passport. The images would have been used to open bank accounts in the name of the victim that were controlled by the exploiters. Investigators also found evidence that one of the exploiters was using the victim’s email address and pretending to be the victim. The three exploiters were found guilty of modern slavery offenses in August 2022. The exploiters were convicted of modern slavery offenses after a four-week trial in Newport Crown Court in July and August of this year, with sentences five years, four years and 20 months, respectively.
“Cellebrite is perfect for these scenarios,” says Shrimpton. “We work with a lot of vulnerable people and potential victims – we want to look at their devices, but we don’t want to take their phones away. We can even go to a local police station and ask for a room where we can do the extraction.”
Frost added: “The digital forensics department has grown more than anyone expected, and it will continue to grow as we see more cases of forced labor.”
The good news is that by having your own lab, the benefits to GLAA will only increase as the department grows.
“We used to have cases that were closed because we just didn’t have the information we needed to file a case,” Shrimpton says. “Now, for every conviction in every court case we’ve had since we opened our lab, digital forensics has played a significant role in prosecution.”
About the Gangmasters and Labor Abuse Authority
The Gangmasters and Worker Abuse Authority works in partnership to protect vulnerable and exploited workers. The agency investigates reports of worker exploitation and illegal activities such as human trafficking, forced labor, and the provision of illegal labor, as well as offenses under the Employment Agency and National Minimum Wage Acts.
It works with partner organizations such as the police, the National Crime Agency and other government law enforcement agencies to target, disrupt and disrupt serious and organized crime across the UK. The authority also regulates companies that provide workers to the fresh produce supply chain and horticulture industry, to ensure they meet employment standards required by law.
About Cellebrite
Cellebrite’s (NASDAQ: CLBT) mission is to enable its clients to protect and save lives, expedite justice and preserve privacy in communities around the world. We are a global leader in digital intelligence solutions for the public and private sectors, empowering organizations to master the complexities of legally sanctioned digital investigations by streamlining intelligence processes. Trusted by thousands of leading companies and agencies around the world, Cellebrite’s digital intelligence platform and solutions transform the way clients collect, review, analyze and manage data in legally sanctioned investigations. For more information, visit us at www.cellebrite.com, https://investors.cellebrite.com, or follow us on Twitter at @Cellebrite_UFED.
Gangmasters and Labor Abuse Authority Media
Stefan Pidluznyj
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Victor Cooper
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