The boss of a textiles factory where investigators found 16 illegal workers has been disqualified from acting as a company director for nine years.
Ilyas Abdulsattar Umerji Nagia was the sole director of House of Creation, in Hildyard Road, Belgrave, Leicester, which went into liquidation with debts of more than £240,000 in May last year.
Three months earlier, it was raided by the UK Border Agency which found it was employing 16 people who had no right to work in the UK.
The company, of which Mr Nagia was the sole director, was ordered to pay £80,000 for employing the illegal workers.
The fine has not been paid, and is included in the company's £240,000 debt.
The maximum penalty of £160,000 – £10,000 per worker – was not imposed because the firm had not been in trouble with the Border Agency before and had co-operated with its investigation.
Investigators also found a £1 million gap in the company's accounts. The money, which has never been traced, was withdrawn from the firm's bank account in its final two years of trading.
Mr Nagia has given an undertaking not to act as a company director until 27 December 2021.
He told investigators that his business had suffered from a combination of the economic downturn and an increase in the national minimum wage.
Robert Clarke, head of company investigations for the Insolvency Service, said: "Directors have a duty to the local community, the jobs market and the wider economy to ensure that their business adheres to the employment regulations.
"These rules exist to both protect those who seek employment and to ensure that those who are employed are treated fairly.
"The undertaking signed by Ilyas Abdulsattar Umerji Nagia sends a clear message to other company directors that if you run a business which contravenes employment regulations, either willfully or through negligence, you could be not only risking a sizeable fine from the UK Border Agency but also removal from the business environment for a lengthy period."
Ilyas Abdulsattar Umerji Nagia was the sole director of House of Creation, in Hildyard Road, Belgrave, Leicester, which went into liquidation with debts of more than £240,000 in May last year.
Three months earlier, it was raided by the UK Border Agency which found it was employing 16 people who had no right to work in the UK.
The company, of which Mr Nagia was the sole director, was ordered to pay £80,000 for employing the illegal workers.
The fine has not been paid, and is included in the company's £240,000 debt.
The maximum penalty of £160,000 – £10,000 per worker – was not imposed because the firm had not been in trouble with the Border Agency before and had co-operated with its investigation.
Investigators also found a £1 million gap in the company's accounts. The money, which has never been traced, was withdrawn from the firm's bank account in its final two years of trading.
Mr Nagia has given an undertaking not to act as a company director until 27 December 2021.
He told investigators that his business had suffered from a combination of the economic downturn and an increase in the national minimum wage.
Robert Clarke, head of company investigations for the Insolvency Service, said: "Directors have a duty to the local community, the jobs market and the wider economy to ensure that their business adheres to the employment regulations.
"These rules exist to both protect those who seek employment and to ensure that those who are employed are treated fairly.
"The undertaking signed by Ilyas Abdulsattar Umerji Nagia sends a clear message to other company directors that if you run a business which contravenes employment regulations, either willfully or through negligence, you could be not only risking a sizeable fine from the UK Border Agency but also removal from the business environment for a lengthy period."
