Man to stand trial over trafficking and sham marriage

A man will stand trial on charges of trafficking two foreign women for forced labour at a farm in Krāslava Municipality and arranging a sham marriage, LSM reported, citing the prosecutor’s office.

On October 29, a prosecutor from the Riga Eastern Prosecutor’s Office sent the case to Riga City Court. The man is accused of acting with another person for financial gain.

According to the charges, he recruited a Ukrainian woman in 2023 through an online job advertisement. In 2025, he recruited a Tajik woman for work at the same farm after contacting her on WhatsApp.

The women were required to do various farm jobs without pay and were not provided with working or living conditions appropriate to their health and age. The accused allegedly threatened the Ukrainian woman and took the Tajik woman’s identity documents. Prosecutors say the circumstances left them with no real and acceptable choice but to submit to forced labour.

To continue using the Tajik woman as unpaid labour, the man allegedly arranged a sham marriage with another person, whose case is being investigated separately. Prosecutors say the arrangement was intended to help the woman obtain the right to reside in Latvia, another European Union member state, a European Economic Area country or Switzerland.

The prosecutor’s office said the accused is presumed innocent until guilt is established under the procedures set out in criminal law.