A RUTHLESS modern day slavery gang who kept their substantial spoils in suitcases stuffed with cash have been jailed for a total of 40 years.

The Rafaels – a family of Slovakian gypsies living in Newcastle – lived the high life and raked in hundreds of thousands of pounds while their slaves lived on stale food in cellars below their homes.

Whilst “gang boss” Roman Rafael dressed himself and his wife in gold jewellery, took expensive holidays on the Med and drove a Mercedes, the people he enslaved were told by his sister-in-law Ruzena: “If you weren’t with us you’d be eating dogs.”

Sharing bare mattresses the destitute eastern Europeans they bought from slave traders for £200 were handed a pittance while pressed into back-breaking jobs which earned their masters a fortune.

To the outside world the family – led by brothers Roman and Marian Rafael – lived a modest life in terraced houses in an area of Newcastle which has become known as “Little Slovakia” because of the number of migrants from the country now living there.

In reality they were earning the kind of wealth they could only have dreamt of in their native town of Zlate Moravce, south western Slovakia.

Judge Peter Armstrong said: “This was a family business and it has been proven that business was modern slavery.”

“The cases arises from a police operation concerning the criminal exploitation of vulnerable people induced to come to this country with the promise of a better life with good work and income.

“Instead in your hands they were deceived, dominated and degraded.

“The victims were easily exploited, just as you intended they would be, because you knew how to use the government and recruitment agencies to exploit them.

“The truth is you were making a living from the hard work and efforts of people you had living in basic accommodation at your homes.”

Judge Armstrong added: “You regarded your victims as income generating assets who could be controlled, bought and sold.

“You funded a criminal lifestyle by the exploitation of vulnerable people, by robbing them of their dignity and their autonomy, by deliberately degrading them as human beings.”

Teesside Crown Court heard the family held lavish parties where they drank champagne, they drove top of the range E Class Mercedes and Audi Q7 cars and gambled in casinos.

The jury heard that police investigators discovered photographs of a large suitcase stuffed to the brim with tens of thousands of Euro from their “criminal enterprise.”

Prosecutor John Elvidge, QC, told the court: “A single slave could generate £13,000 per annum and four slaves could generate £50,000 a year or £250,000 over five years.”

“Further funds were created using overdraft and loan facilities on bank accounts which were nominally in the names of those unfortunate people they were exploiting.

“Also they dishonestly claimed state benefits with one man alone bringing them £15,200.”

He said other slaves netted the family sums of £13,000, £10,000 and £3,100 in benefits which they continued to claim long after the claimants had left the country and fled back to the life they had hoped to escape.

Angelika Cech, 30, the wife of Roman Rafael and mother of his four children, “simply drove out of the country with £8,500 to Slovakia where it was invested in gold and jewellery.”

Mr Elvidge said police recovered a mobile phone owned by Roman Rafael’s mother Ruzena Rafaelova Sr, which she had tried to smash.

He said: “There was a picture on there of a suitcase stuff with tens of thousands of Euros.”

Roman Rafael, 33, admitted conspiracy to traffic with a view to exploitation, money laundering and causing forced labour and was jailed for 10 years

Marian Rafael, 39, admitted conspiracy to traffic with a view to exploitation, money laundering and causing forced labour and was jailed for 10 years

Roman’s wife Angelika Chec, 30, was convicted of the same charges and was jailed for five years

Marian’s wife Ruzena Rafaelova jr, 37, was convicted of the same charges and was jailed for five years

Cousin Juraj Rafael, 38, was convicted of the same charges and was jailed for four years

A youth aged 17 was convicted of the same charges and was jailed for two years

Roman and Marian’s mother Ruzena Rafaelova sr, 58, was convicted of causing forced labour and money laundering and was jailed for four years