Essex lorry deaths: Ringleader who killed 39 migrants 'made £90k'

(Left to right) Eamonn Harrison, Ronan Hughes, Gheorghe Nica and Maurice Robinson were all jailed for manslaughter in January 2021

A ringleader behind an operation that killed 39 Vietnamese migrants in a lorry in Essex made at least £90,000 from people smuggling, a court heard.

Gheorghe Nica has already been jailed for 27 years for the manslaughter of men, women and children found in a container in Grays in October 2019.

Nica, of Basildon, Essex, was one of 11 people convicted over their deaths.

At a confiscation hearing at the Old Bailey, the 46-year-old denied having "money hidden away".

The bodies were discovered in the refrigerated trailer on in October 2019 in Grays

The deaths on the night of 22 October marked the end of a long-running operation in which migrants paid up to £13,000 for what they were told was a "VIP service".

Prosecutors said there were at least seven smuggling trips dating back to May 2018.

Many of the victims hoped to find better paid work in the UK

The hearing heard a financial investigator identified at least £90,000 of Nica's ill-gotten gains.

Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay said there was:

• £24,430 in cash deposits made to his bank account between 2014 and 2019

• 4,410.92 euros (£3,829) seized when he was arrested in Frankfurt, Germany, in January 2020

• A £7,000 cash deposit for the purchase of a Range Rover Evoque in July 2018

• 70,000 euros (£60,764) relating to a property loan in Romania, which was taken out in November 2019 and paid to his wife's account

Nica disputed the figures and denied being a ringleader in the gang.

"I suggest you have got money hidden away," said Mr Polnay, and Nica responded: "I wish".

Gheorghe Nica was pictured on CCTV at a shop on 13 October 2019 in the run-up to the manslaughter

Nica's ex-wife Elena Adeline Nica denied the 70,000 euro loan was to conceal his money and said keeping cash at home in Romania was not unusual.

"I do not think it's fair what is happening," said Ms Nica.

"If he was to have any money I'm telling you I would be abroad and I would not be here. I would pay therapy for my daughter if I had money to live on."

• The supposed 'VIP' journey that killed 39 people

• Who are the victims in the Essex lorry tragedy?

• Lorry death agony builds for Vietnamese families

Nica told the court he worked in Dublin before coming to England in 2008 and fixing lorries in Basildon.

He claimed some of the cash deposits were payments for fixing broken-down HGVs and said he also made money from exporting car parts.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC adjourned the case and said he would deliver his ruling on 24 November.