Cops snare gangmasters at pop legend Sting’s £4m estate where illegal migrant labourers were paid £3.60 an hour
Police frontman 'shocked and saddened' that his estate had become involved in operation that saw them pay 15 euros and hour for labour, only FOUR of which went to the workers
Pop legend Sting's luxury Italian estate is at the centre of a police investigation into illegal migrant labour.
Immigrant workers picked grapes and olives on his 350 acre Il Palagio estate after being recruited by gangmasters.
They were paid just 4 Euros an hour for the backbreaking work under the hot sun at Il Palagio, which is set in rolling Tuscan hills on the outskirts of Siena.
The stunned former Police front man told how he was shocked and saddened that his estate had unwittingly been involved.
Prosecutors revealed that dozens of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers from Pakistan and sub Saharan Africa had been rounded up by the gang and sent to farms across central Italy.
Gangmaster . . . Tariq Sikander is accused of being ringleader of the plot
In one incident—not on Sting's estate—one of the labourers was seriously injured after health and safety rules were not enforced and he sliced his throat with a hook.
Prosecutor Antonio Sangermano said 11 people were held as a result of the operation including the ringleader of the gang Pakistani national Tariq Sikander.
Mr Sangermano The Sun: ''These were illegal immigrants and asylum seekers who were recruited by the gangmasters and then contacted out to dozens of local estates farming grapes and olives across Tuscany.
''They would work illegally on these estates collecting grapes, olives and carrying out other work but in breach of all safety and employment regulations.'' Lead investigator superintendent Angelo Caiazzo said:''Among the estates they worked at was Sting's Il Palagio estate and there were plenty of other places. In total the gang recruited around 500 asylum seekers and illegal immigrants as workers.
''They would charge the estates 15 Euro an hour and give the workers just 4 Euro and the conditions they were forced to work in were inhumane and truly appalling.'' The investigation started after Sikander was arrested five months ago and then decided to turn informer. His information led to the arrests of four other Pakistani nationals and seven Italians.
Surveillance footage released by Italian police shows gangs of workers gathering in the countryside waiting for minibuses to take them to farms.
They were employed by a local firm called Coli Chianti and then sub contacted out to local firms—among those arrested were directors of the company.
The eleven are being held on charges of conspiracy, illegal recruiting of employees, fraud and tax evasion. There is no suggestion that multi millionaire Sting had any idea the workers at Il Palagio were illegal.
It is not the first time Sting has been unwittingly involved in a police probe—two years ago it emerged that a building firm he used to carry out repair work on cottages at the estate were operations for the Naples mafia, the Camorra.
Sting—former front man with the Police and now a solo artist—has been making wine on his estate for the last 15 years and labels include Sister Moon, When We Dance, Casino delle Vie and Message in a Bottle.
Sister Moon is the most expensive selling for £36 a bottle, while Message in a Bottle is £15.50 and the other two can be picked up for £12 with the estate manager saying they produce 50,000 bottles a year.
The multimillionaire Geordie and his American wife Trudy are fans of tantric sex and have opened up their estate to holidaymakers who can pick the olives and grapes themselves—at a charge of £262 a day.
Last year Sting—real name Gordon Sumner—was named as one of italy's top 100 wine producers by the respected US magazine Wine Spectator.
He bought 16th Century Il Palagio in 1999 and added neighbouring land to turn it into a massive estate of 900 acres, one of the largest in Tuscany.
Besides wine, Sting also sells his own olive oil, honey and salami from the farm shop and he has also installed a 10ft statue of Buddha in the chapel.
Three years ago sting started to renting out six cottages on the state for 7,000 Euro a week, giving guests access to the lake, swimming pool and giant chessboard in the garden—and he often puts in a personal appearance.
On the Il Palagio website Sting writes:''Il Palagio is like stepping into a painting. And one of my favourite places on Earth. I hope you fall in love with it as much as I have.''
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Sting said he was "saddened and distressed to learn that an independent company leasing some of our fields may have been involved in questionable labour practices.
"I fully expect that Italian law will take its course and bring the matter to court.
"While this company has no affiliation with our own operation, perhaps as my name has appeared in the headline in the Italian papers, it will shine a necessary spotlight on unacceptable labour practices in the wine industry."