My friend is trapped by her employer, lawyer and landlord under a sham legal contract

I'm originally from a less developed country. I came to the UK for my university studies and have already left after graduating. My family was well off and we live well 'back home' so we truly paid the fees and left with no immigrant intent. My close friend remains in England under what I believe is a sham agreement between her lawyer, employer and landlord. The landlord either knows or is related to the agency/lawyer because he gets people coming in from our country to the UK all of the time. His 4 bedroom has 14 beds including bunk beds for the men.

The employer and landlord are somehow connected to this solicitors office in Ilford and this is just my inference. I do not know for sure.

My friend has the right to stay in the UK due to her job, which is given to her under the condition she rents one of the available units supplied by the agency.

The reason why my friend must do this, is because she's poor. She paid £36,000 to get to the UK, not with "real money" but money she's legally contracted to earn to pay them back. I have looked at the contract and there's no chance it holds up in UK courts, it was sent by email with the sender having a Gmail domain, and there was a solicitor copied into the email with a valid domain but I again, view it is a sham contract even if it is purportedly supported by a real solicitor's office.

For example the email sent to her recently was along the lines of [employername@gmail.com](mailto:employername@gmail.com), [aqeeb.hassan@realsolicitordomain.com](mailto:aqeeb.hassan@realsolicitordomain.com)

I searched the name Aqeeb Hassan (not the real name) and I found a real lawyer, linkedin connected to that office, an overview of their background. It is not a fake email but the demands in the email must be fake.

24 hour retractable notice if she pays £800 today?

The contract states she must pay £800 every single week to remain in the property, and understandably, she's never been able to pay this amount so the balance is considered "overdue" and carried over each time. She has been told by one of the agency managers she's in default of her loan and could be sent back so she should pay "immediately".

The true market value of her rent is not more than £300, she shares a converted living room with 2 other women in similar situations, and the remaining money she pays is, as she told me, the cost of her visa fee or the cost of her job (I do not know the true specifics because she is very evasive and cannot admit she is being played big time for which I feel for her).

From what I've seen, observed, been told and from what I know about my friend, she works almost the full 7 days a week with no breaks and never gets any time off, as she has now spent 4 years in the UK and has one year left remaining before maybe being able to apply for residency, the agency has become more concerned about getting the full "loan' back including threats to jeopardise her process, "fire her" from the job and also making demands for unpaid balances.

They have even gone as far as to refer her for a third job in the same borough (Newham) which would be a late night restaurant closing shift. It is not a manager role. She would be cleaning dishes.

I want to help my friend, but I truly do not want to make the wrong move and ruin everything for her. She cannot freely switch jobs and I do not make enough money to support her, I have to support myself and we are only 22 years old.

How do I approach this and what are the real solutions? My friend has no intention of ever returning back home because she's not well off, and in her words, she would rather be poor in the UK.