According to current German legislation, the competence of the German customs (Bundeszollverwaltung) also includes combating illegal employment (commonly known as 'off-the-books work', German: Schwarzarbeit). Exercising these powers, starting at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, January 30, over a thousand customs officers, supported by Federal Police special forces from GSG-9 units, began a large-scale operation to dismantle an organized crime network that supplied construction sites in North Rhine-Westphalia with illegal workers. The operation was coordinated by a joint group of nine prosecutors from the Wuppertal and Düsseldorf public prosecutor's offices, and a special investigative commission 'SoKo Moses' was established for initial investigative actions.
According to 'Russkaya Germaniya', the operation was conducted in the cities of Erkrath, Monheim, Wuppertal, Kerpen, and Frechen. Arrests were made at nine addresses (in apartments and company offices) based on previously issued court orders. One additional arrest was made during the operation itself. According to the head of the prosecutor's group, Wolf-Tilmann Baumert, 'this is the largest raid in the history of North Rhine-Westphalia by law enforcement against organized crime in the field of illegal employment, causing millions in damages to the budget through unpaid taxes.'
Exactly 14 years ago – in February 2004 – the Federal Government approved a legislative initiative by German Finance Minister Hans Eichel to strengthen measures against illegal employment in industrial enterprises, the service sector, and especially in construction, where off-the-books work is most common. As Eichel stated at the time, the fight against illegal workers could bring an additional billion euros into the treasury. For her part, State Secretary of the Finance Ministry Barbara Hendriks already said then that 'in the construction sector, we are dealing with the activities of organized mafia structures.'
Since then, German law enforcement agencies have conducted numerous operations to identify and stop the activities of these mafia structures. In the last two years alone, organized crime networks supplying illegal workers to construction sites in Hesse and the Münsterland region of North Rhine-Westphalia were dismantled. But, as the current raid shows, the hydra of 'off-the-books work' immediately grows a new head in place of one that seemed to have been cut off. It is no wonder that Germans have a joke that the only sector of the economy immune to any crises or downturns is the illegal labor sector.
Every year, thousands of people are punished for illegal labor. The relevant law was significantly tightened in 2004. Since then, both employers who hire workers for illegal activities and the workers themselves have faced deserved punishment. According to the law, those who allow someone to work without proper documentation are subject to much stricter penalties than those who performed such work.
In German civil law (Bürgerliche Gesetzbuch), regarding illegal work, the following is stated: whoever performs off-the-books work fails to fulfill their duty to pay taxes. And whoever benefits from this illegal work cannot demand a refund if something went wrong during its performance.
Judicial practice refers to money earned through illegal work as 'unjust enrichment.' Any illegal work carries the risk of a fine or even imprisonment.