Businessman banned for employing illegal workers

Four men with no right to work in the UK were found employed at Bubbles Car Valeting

A businessman has been banned from running companies for 10 years for employing illegal workers.

Edris Ali hired two illegal workers at the Tasty pizza restaurant in Hartlepool and another four at Bubbles Car Valeting in Guisborough.

They were discovered during Immigration Enforcement visits in 2020 and 2022.

Dave Magrath, from the Insolvency Agency, said Ali "failed in his statutory duties by employing these six people who did not have the right to work in the UK".

"Employers hiring illegal workers defrauds the public purse and puts potentially vulnerable people at risk of exploitation," he added.

Immigration Enforcement visited the restaurant in January 2020 and found two Iranian men in their 30s working illegally.

In October 2022, a visit to the hand car wash found four men in their 20s from Iran, Sudan and Ivory Coast working at the site.

Fines and bans

Ali, 39, of Lorne Street, Middlesbrough, had been working as a director at the two companies in 2019 but resigned in 2022.

After the discovery, Hama Tasty Ltd was fined £20,000, while Bubbles Car Valeting was handed a £60,000 fine for the immigration breaches.

Ali was given a disqualification order at the High Court in London last month, and the 10-year ban came into force on Tuesday.

The ban prevents him from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company without the permission of the court.

He was also ordered to pay £9,884 in costs.

The Home Office's Theresa Gregory said: "Employers have a responsibility to carry out thorough checks on individuals prior to employment to ensure they have the right to work in the UK.

"A failure to do so may lead to further action being taken by the regulator."