Press release: Takeaway directors banned for employing illegal workers

Alawor Rahman Siddique Jafforey, and his son, Tufael Mahmood Siddique, acted as directors of Spiceway Limited (Spiceway), which traded as Kings Balti Palace Restaurant in Cheltenham.

Officers from Home Office Immigration Enforcement visited the premises on 4 December 2015 when Spiceway was found to be employing two illegal workers.

Spiceway were issued with a £20,000 Notification of Liability for Civil Penalties for employing illegal workers which they did not pay.

The directors subsequently took steps to place Spiceway into liquidation, which took place on 31 March 2016.

Following an investigation by the Insolvency Service, Mr Jafforey and Mr Siddique gave undertakings to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in which they did not dispute failing to ensure Spiceway complied with immigration laws. The disqualifications are in effect as of 25 September 2017.

Robert Clarke, Head of Insolvent Investigations North at the Insolvency Service, said:

The Insolvency Service pursues directors who fail to pay fines imposed for breaking employment and immigration laws. We have worked closely in this case with our colleagues at the Home Office to achieve this disqualification.

The public has a right to expect those who break the law will face the consequences. Running a limited company means you have obligations as well as statutory protections. If you fail to comply with your obligations, the Insolvency Service will investigate you.

Notes to editors

Spiceway Limited (CRO No. 08607643) was incorporated in July 2013. The company’s trading name was Kings Balti Palace, and operated from 237 London Road, Charlton Kings, Cheltenham, GL52 6HZ.

Spiceway Limited entered liquidation on 31 March 2016 with assets of £6 and liabilities of £23,760.

Mr Jafforey is from Cheltenham and his date of birth is September 1960.

Mr Siddique is from Cheltenham and his date of birth is October 1989.

The disqualification undertakings were accepted by the Secretary of State on
4 September 2017 and are in effect from 25 September 2017.

A disqualification order has the effect that without specific permission of a court, a person with a disqualification cannot:

• act as a director of a company
• take part, directly or indirectly, in the promotion, formation or management of a company or limited liability partnership
• be a receiver of a company’s property

Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.

Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other restrictions.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

BEIS’ mission is to build a dynamic and competitive UK economy that works for all, in particular by creating the conditions for business success and promoting an open global economy. The Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions team contributes to this aim by taking action to deter fraud and to regulate the market. They investigate and prosecute a range of offences, primarily relating to personal or company insolvencies.
The agency also authorises and regulates the insolvency profession, assesses and pays statutory entitlement to redundancy payments when an employer cannot or will not pay employees, provides banking and investment services for bankruptcy and liquidation estate funds and advises ministers and other government departments on insolvency law and practice.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available.

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