Mrs Seema Farhat Usmani, who ran The Mughal Takeaway Limited in Manchester, has been disqualified from acting as a director for 6 years for allowing the company to employ 3 illegal workers.
This follows an investigation by the Insolvency Service, working with the Home Office.
On 25 February 2016, Mrs Usmani signed a disqualification undertaking which bans her from being a company director and from being involved in the management of a limited company in any way for a period of six years from 13 March 2016.
The business, a fast food outlet, went into liquidation on 2 April 2015 owing £44,854 to creditors.
The matters of unfitness which resulted in the undertaking were:-
Mrs Seema Farhat Usmani failed to ensure that Mughal Takeaway Limited complied with its statutory obligations under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 resulting in the employment of three illegal workers. Following a visit from Home Office Immigration Officers on 27 September 2014, during which this breach was discovered.
Commenting on the disqualification, Sue MacLeod, Chief Investigator for Insolvent Investigations Midlands and West at the Insolvency Service, said:
This director sought an unfair advantage over their competitors by employing individuals who did not have the right to work in the UK.
The Insolvency Service rigorously investigates directors who breach employment and immigration legislation and this ban should act as a warning to other employers who are flouting the law. Directors who also seek to obtain commercial advantage over their competitors show a total disregard for the business community generally.