Restaurant owner denies receiving fine for hiring illegal workers - and wants UK government to remove business name from offenders list
A Fareham restaurant owner has shared his dismay that the UK government website shows his establisment was hit with a £10,000 fine for hiring illegal workers – which he claims is false.
Achuthan Leelaratnam, who runs the Rodizio Grill Brazillian Steakhouse in Wickham Road, Fareham, said that he only became aware of the listing earlier this week and has been actively trying to get his business removed from the page for fear it will harm trade.
NOW READ: Road closures near Portsmouth: 22 times major roads in Hampshire will be shut in coming weeks
Despite the information on the government website, which was last updated on May 24 and at time of writing still shows the business as having been fined, Achuthan recieved a ‘No Action Notice’ in November last year. The letter, seen by The News, states: ‘you are not liable for a civil penalty under section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006.’
Achuthan claims the initial Immigration Enforcement investigation about due to a clerical error resulting from mix-up between the names of employees and managers in paperwork.
Achutan said: ‘We have a letter saying it’s all cleared. I’m assuming, because there was a name confusion of the ownership, that’s probably why they didn’t generate the letter for the other one. They didn’t send me any information about charges or a fine or anything.’
A spokesperson for the Home Office said that they would not comment on individual cases, but added: ‘Illegal working causes untold harm to our communities, cheating honest workers out of employment, putting vulnerable people at risk, and defrauding the public purse. The government is tackling illegal immigration and the harm it causes by removing those with no right to be in the UK.’