Bans issued over illegal workers at restaurants

Nurul Abser, 37, and Shah Alam, 39, directors of the Indian Rose Restaurant, in Castle Road, Scarborough, were disqualified for eight years after five illegal workers, including one waiter and one chef, were found during Home Office raids.

Nurul Alam, 44, the director of Eastern Paradise, in St Helens Square, Scarborough, where four illegal workers including a kitchen porter were discovered, was disqualified for seven years.

They were among eight directors nationwide banned this week as part of a scheme by the Insolvency Service and Home Office Immigration Enforcement.

The companies run by the three owners are now understood to have gone into liquidation.

Business Minister Jo Swinson said: “These directors had an unfair advantage over their competitors by employing illegal workers for low wages.

“Illegal working is not victimless. It is often exploitative, undercuts honest employers, cheats legitimate job seekers out of employment opportunities and defrauds the taxpayer.

“The public has a right to expect that those who break the law will face the consequences and we have worked closely in this case with our colleagues at the Home Office to achieve this disqualification.”

The recent disqualifications bring to 16 the number of directors banned in the last nine months. They are aged 22 to 59 and had collectively employed 52 illegal workers who were caught during intelligence-led Home Office enforcement operations.