A FORMER boss at an Indian restaurant in East Lancashire has been named and shamed for not paying a fine for employing an illegal worker.
Immigration enforcement officials swooped on Agra, in Accrington Road, Hapton, in November 2016, and found a 29-year-old Bangladeshi man was working there after overstaying on a visitor’s visa.
Another 29-year-old had remained in the UK on a student visa.
The-then owners of the restaurant, Hapton Ltd, were issued with a £10,000 civil penalty the following March.
But the Home Office has confirmed this has never paid by the company, which later went bust owing more than £42,000.
Mohammed Ali, the current manager of Agra, told the Lancashire Telegraph that the restaurant had reopened under fresh management last November.
Immigration officers also conducted a raid on the former Crown Newsagents, in Albert Road, Colne, at the end of September 2017 and discovered an illegal worker on the premises.
Another £10,000 civil penalty was also imposed, on November 17 last year, which also remains unpaid.
The official list of defaulters names Stalybridge-based Sheron Niroshan Jeromjeyabalan as the responsible party. The newsagents, near Primet Hill. is also understood to have changed hands since the raid.
A Home Office spokesman said: “Where an employer does not pay in full, we will pursue them for payment of the outstanding debt with our third party debt recovery specialists.”
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