A RESTAURANT boss has appeared in court charged with employing illegal immigrants and transferring more than £25,000 of criminal funds.
Kismet Miah, of the Red Fox in Tarporley, pleaded not guilty to four counts of breaching immigration law, two counts of fraud and two counts of transferring criminal funds.
And during the plea and case management hearing at Chester Crown Court on Friday (October 26) his co-defendant Jannatul Zuhora pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud and one count of transferring criminal funds.
The court heard how between January 2010-April 2011 Miah allegedly breached immigration law by employing four Bangladeshi men at his Indian restaurant at Four Lanes End in Tarporley.
And Zuhora, who spoke only to answer her name and plead not guilty through a translator in the dock, was charged jointly with Miah of fraud after allegedly giving false details regarding her marital and employment status.
Both defendants were also charged with transferring criminal funds in 2008 after allegedly moving £10,391.98 into a joint account. Miah also allegedly moved £16,162 to a company account back in 2010.
The pair are due to stand trial at Chester Crown Court on January 29 next year.
