An Indian restaurant in Essex risks paying a fine as high as £80,000 for employing illegal workers.
Omar's Tandoori in the town was the subject of a raid conducted by UK immigration officers earlier this month. Upon investigating the restaurant, officers found four illegal immigrants from Bangladesh working on the premises.
Two of the illegal migrants were found to have overstayed their UK visas, while a further two had entered the country illegally.
Half of the group have been detained, while the other two are on immigration bail. Officers are working on removing all four individuals from the country.
Meanwhile, the business has some problems of its own. The Home Office can impose fines of up to £20,000 for each illegal worker employed, leaving the restaurant with a bill of up to £80,000. To avoid this, Omar's Tandoori will need to prove that the correct right to work checks were conducted before the business employed the four men.
Lee Clarke from the Home Office Immigration Enforcement team, commented: "Operations like these are carried out across the UK every day as our work to arrest, detain and remove immigration offenders from the UK continues.
"Employers who use illegal labour are cheating the taxpayer, undercutting genuine employers and denying legitimate job hunters work. Those who wilfully flout the rules will face heavy financial penalties.
"I would urge anyone with detailed and specific information about suspected immigration abuse to get in touch.”