A brother and sister from Oldham are amongst a gang of organised crime members jailed for over 16 years for human trafficking, controlling prostitution for gain and modern slavery offences against a woman from France trapped in an Oldham house
Anisoara Stan aged 44 of Ashton Road, Oldham pleaded guilty to human trafficking and control prostitution for gain. She received six years and eight months’ imprisonment
Her brother, Victor-Viorel Stan 41,of Howgill Crescent in Oldham pleaded guilty to control prostitution for gain and was jailed for four years and eight months’
Gheorghe Rusu aged 22 of Abson Street, Oldham, pleaded guilty to control prostitution for gain and received 22 months in jail
Dan Scurtu also 42 of Western Road in Newham, London, pleaded guilty to controlling prostitution for gain and a 16-month sentence
Daniel Dobrin aged 20 of Crofton Street, Oldham and Stefan Boeru aged 24 of Howgill Crescent, also of Oldham, pleaded guilty to control prostitution for gain and both received jail terms of 12 months
Their victim was a Romanian national from France to the UK, with the promise of a lucrative cleaning job.
She was in fact kept prisoner in an Oldham flat and forced into sex work.
The court heard how, in January 2024, a man living in London received a message from a friend, who told him she was being held prisoner in a flat in Oldham, Manchester.
The man immediately alerted the Metropolitan Police about his 31-year-old Romanian friend, who was residing in France, was being held against her will in the UK. The Met swiftly informed GMP and immediate actions were made by Oldham CID to identify the flat on Ashton Road, for which they only had a partial post code.
Once the address was positively identified, CID – supported by Neighbourhood Officers – forced entry, where the victim was located inside with three other people. These were named as Stefan Boeru, Dan Scurtu and Gheorghe Rusu, who were all arrested on suspicion of modern slavery offences and human trafficking.
The victim was rescued and immediately removed to a place of safety, where she was supported by specialist officers.
The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, provided a video interview in which she described making acquaintance with a woman named Anisoara Stan in Nice, France, where she lived. She described being promised a lucrative cleaning job in the UK, which the victim accepted. Stan then arranged travel for herself and the victim, with both flying into the UK on 11 January 2024.
Boeru met them at the airport and drove them back to the flat on Ashton Road in Oldham, where she was met by a man who threatened her, saying she owed 6000 euros for the accommodation and flat – and that the only way she could pay this off was to work as an escort.
Stan further enforced the lie by telling her that she wouldn’t ever see her children again and she would be beaten.
The victim then described how she was transported around Manchester and made to have sexual intercourse with multiple men every night. She identified Scurtu and Rusu as the men who drove her around, and as those who would take payment from men through a number of online payments.
These payments would then be split between the depraved gang with notes attached to the transactions such as ‘FAMILY’ and ‘GIFT’ in an attempt to disguise the payments. It’s estimated they were making around £1,000 per night.
Through a painstaking examination of mobile phone devices, financial transactions, CCTV and the victim’s statement, officers were able to create a timeline of where she was taken from Manchester Airport to the flat where she was recovered. They were also able to ascertain the locations where she was taken to be used for prostitution.
To investigate this organised crime group further, Oldham CID set up Operation Hollow, which consisted of three Detective Constables, a Detective Sergeant and a Romanian-speaking Police Constable.
With three of the gang already arrested, questioned and charged, police then located and issued arrest warrants for the other three.
Anisoara Stan was arrested on the 27 January 2024, Dobrin was arrested on 9 February 2024 and Stan was arrested by police in Essex as he attempted to flee the UK by boat on Sunday 4 February 2024.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fink of Oldham CID said: “First of all, my deepest gratitude goes to the victim in this case, who had her dignity and human rights cruelly stripped from her from the moment she landed on UK soil.
“Without her continued bravery and support, we wouldn’t have been able to locate and bring all of the offenders to justice and, while we know today’s sentencing will not erase the memories she has been left with, we hope that it goes some small way to allow her to heal.
“I am also thankful to the specialist police officers who have been providing the victim with much-needed support. She has been repatriated and is now safe and well.
“This was an extremely complex and volatile investigation with a lot of moving parts and I would like to thank everyone who was part of Operation Hollow – your contribution was priceless.
