'We had no idea they were not genuine' (From Watford Observer)
Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting WO to 80360, or email us
Buon Cibo and Whip and Collar 'blameless' in immigration arrests
10:30am Thursday 21st February 2013 in News
By Ben Endley, Senior reporter
The bosses of two Rickmansworth venues have protested their innocence after staff working at both were arrested by immigration officers.
Officers from UK Border Agency raided Buon Cibo in Station Road and the Whip and Collar in Uxbridge Road, on January 31 two Brazilian men age 34 and 31 were found working in Buon Cibo while two men, age 25 and 31 from Uzbekistan, were taken from the Whip and Collar. All had overstayed their visas and have been deported.
The venues been warned they could face fines of between £10,000 and £20,000 if they are found to have not carried out the proper checks but Georgie Mergan, manager of the Whip and Collar, and Franco Grieco, owner of Buon Cibo, both insist they were blameless.
Ms Mergan said: "They were on our books, had national insurance numbers and were paying tax. We had no idea they were not genuine.
"One of them had been working for me for a year, another for six months.
"We are not quite sure why the Home Office has treated us like this, they said ‘you’re going to have to pay a fine’ but they have not contacted me since.
"All we have done is hired staff with the proper paperwork."
Mr Grieco added: "I have done nothing wrong, I made all the checks I needed to make and got photocopies of id cards.
"Apparently I was given fake documents, I have no worries at all that I will get fined.
"One of the men was on trial, he had been working here for three days and the other was from the start of the year.
"I have never had trouble in the past so I don’t really know why they came to me rather than any other restaurant."
Comments(4)
theturpster
says...
5:22pm Thu 21 Feb 13
G_Whiz wrote:Can't win, you need to tick so many equality boxes, but when you do, you get fined for UKBF's failures.
"I have never had trouble in the past so I don’t really know why they came to me rather than any other restaurant."
Er, hello? - they were working illegally that's why the agency came to you!
Employ British staff and you won't have this trouble!
Razor Sharp
says...
11:08pm Thu 21 Feb 13
theturpster wrote:How is this a UKBA failure? They over-stayed their Visas, were tracked down and deported. Surely that is a success.
G_Whiz wrote:Can't win, you need to tick so many equality boxes, but when you do, you get fined for UKBF's failures.
"I have never had trouble in the past so I don’t really know why they came to me rather than any other restaurant."
Er, hello? - they were working illegally that's why the agency came to you!
Employ British staff and you won't have this trouble!
How is this related to equality?
It would be interesting to find out what hourly rates they were being paid and whether they were viewed as 'cheap labour'.
garston tony
says...
1:01pm Fri 22 Feb 13
Razor Sharp wrote:I agree, this is UKBA doing precisely what it should.
theturpster wrote:How is this a UKBA failure? They over-stayed their Visas, were tracked down and deported. Surely that is a success. How is this related to equality? It would be interesting to find out what hourly rates they were being paid and whether they were viewed as 'cheap labour'.G_Whiz wrote: "I have never had trouble in the past so I don’t really know why they came to me rather than any other restaurant." Er, hello? - they were working illegally that's why the agency came to you! Employ British staff and you won't have this trouble!Can't win, you need to tick so many equality boxes, but when you do, you get fined for UKBF's failures.
I dont know if the owners were duped with false documents or not but that was a bit of a silly comment from Mr Grieco. They raided you because you were the one employing people illegally wether you knew it or not.
Anyone see that friedchicken shop program this week. It was interesting to hear the owner say that he gets people coming in asking if there is work all the time but never ever any Brits. Its always foreigners be they here permanently or temporarily whilst studying.
Makes me think at how hard some people are looking for work when they think themselves too good for certain jobs. Dont get me wrong i'm lucky in my situatuion but if I ever lost my job i'd be taking whatever I could and I dont want my taxes paying for people to be picky. Thats not what the benefit system is there to do
G_Whiz says...
12:01pm Thu 21 Feb 13
Er, hello? - they were working illegally that's why the agency came to you!
Employ British staff and you won't have this trouble!