Six-year ban for Indian restaurant director caught employing illegal workers
Immigration Enforcement found the breach during a visit last year.
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Mohammed Miah recruited two workers who were from Bangladesh at an Indian restaurant in south-east London
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The illegal workers were discovered during an Immigration Enforcement raid in 2023
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Miah’s disqualification means he cannot act as a company director for the next six years
The director of an Indian restaurant in south-east London has been banned as a company director for six years after employing two illegal workers.
Mohammed Miah, 36, described as the commercial director of iNaga on Croydon Road in West Wickham, hired the workers who came from Bangladesh and did not have the right to work in the UK.
The illegal workers were discovered by Immigration Enforcement during a raid of iNaga last year.
Kevin Read, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
Mohammed Miah employed two people who did not have the right to work in the UK, breaching immigration legislation and the standards we expect of company directors.
His directorship ban means he cannot now be involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company in the UK until September 2030.
We will continue to work with our partners at the Home Office to clamp down on rogue employers who fail to comply with their statutory obligations.
Miah, of Deal Street, London, was the sole director of the restaurant, trading under the company name I Naga Zaal Ltd, since July 2022.
Immigration Enforcement carried out an operation at the restaurant in February 2023, finding two men in their 30s and 40s with no right to work in the UK.
One of the workers told investigators he had only very recently been working at the restaurant while the other said he had been employed for two months.
Miah had employed them without conducting checks that they had the right to work in the UK.
Immigration Enforcement fined the company £20,000 but the penalty remained unpaid when I Naga Zaal went into liquidation in June 2023 with liabilities of more than £75,000.
David Tripp, the Home Office’s Immigration Compliance Enforcement lead for South London, said:
Business owners play an important role in ensuring the workers they employ have the right to work.
It is clear Mohammed Miah failed to do so, which is why he can no longer operate as a company director.
We’re dedicated to tackling illegal working as it undercuts honest employers and disadvantages legitimate job seekers.
The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Miah, and his six-year ban began on Tuesday 17 September.
The disqualification prevents Miah from becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.
A restaurant continues to operate from the same address under a different company name. Miah is not a director of this company.
Further information
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Mohammed Miah is of Deal Street, London. His date of birth is 14 June 1988
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I Naga Zaal Ltd (company number 14261400)
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Individuals subject to a disqualification order or undertaking are bound by a range of restrictions