A RESTAURANT boss has been disqualified from acting as a director for eight years after closing down his business instead of paying a fine for employing illegal workers.
Kismet Miah, 49, from Duddon, who ran The Red Fox Indian Cuisine Ltd, near Tarporley, is banned from acting as a company director until May 2021.
His disqualification follows a probe by The Insolvency Service.
The Red Fox started trading in May 2010. The UK Border Agency (UKBA) visited the restaurant in July 2010 and discovered that Mr Miah was employing five illegal workers.
The UKBA imposed a penalty of £25,000, which Mr Miah failed to pay. Instead, he transferred £68,162 out of the company’s account and then placed the restaurant in liquidation on September 6, 2010, leaving assets of just £6,592 and debts of £63,924.
Investigators also discovered the company records Mr Miah gave to the liquidator were inadequate.
It was not possible to confirm that all the restaurant’s takings had been received into the company’s bank account, nor to determine the purpose of the transfer of £68,162 made out of the account shortly prior to liquidation.
Vicky Bagnall, director of investigations and enforcement at The Insolvency Service, said: “This order sends a clear message to other company directors; if you run a business in a way that is detrimental to either its customers or its creditors you will be in our sights.”
