ESG Enforcement Tracker

In December 2025, Ana Lucia Martins, a Brazilian national residing in the UK, was sentenced to three years imprisonment at the Old Bailey. Martins pleaded guilty on the second day of her trial to assisting unlawful immigration to a member state contrary to section 25(1) and 25(6) of the Immigration Act 1971.

Martins lured her victims to the UK by promising them work visas and employment at her cleaning company where she claimed they would be paid £400 a week. Once the victims were in the UK, they were made to work 12-hour shifts without breaks, food or water and told that their only payment would be by way of accommodation. In the unusual event that the workers were provided with money, Martins would monitor what they were spending, how much and when.

Martins was the subject of a four-year investigation by immigration officers in which it was discovered that she moved the victims to a different Airbnb every 15 days to avoid detection by authorities. It was also found that several victims had asked to return to Brazil, which Martins responded to with threats directed at the victims and, in one instance, their family.

Martins will now automatically be referred for deportation consideration.