The owner has been banned as a company director until 2031 for hiring illegal workers.

Indian Restaurant Owner Banned: Every country has a very strict rule about migrants and has laid down guidelines about the same. One such country is the United Kingdom and the news coming over from there is about an Indian restaurant and takeaway and its owner who has been banned as a company director until 2031 for hiring three illegal workers from Bangladesh without conducting right-to-work checks.

Ikbal Hussain, the owner of the Indian restaurant and takeaway Taste of Raj hired the three Bangladeshi illegal workers. All of them are said to be in their forties.

Taste of Raj which is located on High Street, Hertfordshire was raided by immigration enforcement officials in March 2020, almost four years ago.

Ikbal Hussain, 51, is a resident of Enfield and was the sole director of the restaurant, trading under the company name of Tender Love Ltd, since June 2014.

Meanwhile, the workers told investigators they had worked at the restaurant for between four days and up to two months, and Hussain not only employed them without conducting right-to-work checks but also failed to keep the required documentation proving they were eligible to work in the UK, said the statement issued by the Home Office on Tuesday.

“Ikbal Hussain’s failure to ensure the required checks were carried out resulted in the employment of three illegal workers, in contravention of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006,” Kevin Read, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said.

Calling this a serious breach of legislation, Read added that Hussain cannot be involved in the promotion, formation, or management of a company in the UK as a result of the ban, which came into effect on February 16.

Suran Padiachie from Home Office Immigration Enforcement said illegal working cheats honest workers out of employment, puts vulnerable people at risk, and defrauds the public purse.

“We’re clamping down on illegal working by ramping up enforcement activity and tripling fines for rogue employers. We will continue to work with partners, including the Insolvency Service to tackle illegal migration in all its forms,” Padiachie added.

Hussain tendered a disqualification undertaking which was accepted by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade.

(With IANS inputs)