Erwin and Krystian Markowski were reportedly sentenced to six years in prison at Nottingham's crown court earlier this week for luring men from Poland to work at Sports Direct International's warehouse in Shirebrook and then stealing part of their earnings. The brothers apparently employed a “spotter” in Poland to identify vulnerable people who would agree to be sent to the U.K. for work. When they arrived in Britain, they had their passports confiscated by the Markowski brothers, who then opened bank accounts on behalf of the workers and cashed in most of their earnings from working at Sports Direct – making £35,000 (€40,965-$44,026) from the scheme. A spokesperson for Sports Direct was quoted in The Guardian as saying that the group welcomed the conviction of the two individuals, who were brought to justice after being reported to police by the Transline agency and Sports Direct in February 2016. SDI described this intervention as a clear signal that SDI would not tolerate “such kinds of behaviour.” Transline added that it had no relationship with the pair. The brothers were sentenced under the Modern Slavery Act. 

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