Restaurateur Banned for Employing Illegal Workers in Romsey

Mohammad Shajahan, the director of an Indian restaurant in Romsey, has been disqualified for acting as a company director for seven years after he was found to employ illegal workers in his restaurant business.

The discovery came after Rose Garden (UK) Limited (Rose), trading under the name of Alresford Indian & Bangladeshi Restaurant, had an investigation by the Home Office Immigration Enforcement Officers on 9 March 2015. It found that five workers were illegally employed and not eligible to work in the UK.

On 25 April 2016, the company went into liquidation whilst owing £223,547 to creditors. Of this sum, £100,000 was the fine which was imposed by the Home Office Immigration and Enforcement.

Following an investigation by the Insolvency Service, it was concluded that Mr Shajahan failed to ensure that the company complied with immigration legislation and statutory obligations to ensure that relevant checks were completed. It also found that copy documents were retained, resulting in the illegal employing.

According to Robert Clarke, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, “Illegal workers are not protected under employment law, and as well as cheating legitimate job seekers out of employment opportunities these employers defraud the taxpayer and undercut honest competitors.

The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, makes employers responsible for preventing illegal workers in the UK. To comply with the law, a company must check and be able to prove documents have been checked prior to recruitment that show a person is entitled to work.”

The disqualification means that Mr Mohammad Shajahan is now unable to act as the director of a limited liability company, without specific permission from a court. He is also unable to participate in the formation, management or promotion of a company, or be the receiver of a company’s property.

The disqualification was given for a total of seven years, starting from 20 December 2016.