Restaurant boss banned for fake five-star hygiene rating
A restaurant owner has been banned from running companies for five years after he falsely advertised a five star food hygiene rating in a magazine.
Rushan Ahmed, 31, claimed his Moza restaurant in Derby had been awarded a five-star food hygiene rating in three adverts he ran in a local magazine, despite the premises actually holding a zero rating.
Derby City Council Food Safety Inspectors had visited the restaurant in February 2015, when the restaurant was given a food hygiene rating of one. Following a return visit in July 2015 the rating was amended to zero as no action was taken to amend the issues raised.
The advert resulted in the council’s trading standards team taking the restaurant’s parent company Four Brothers to court in April 2016, where Ahmed pleaded guilty to the charge that the company engaged in unfair commercial practices.
Four Brothers was fined £3,171 and Ahmed received a personal fine of £1,271, but as the restaurant was not making any profit, Ahmed decided to cease trading in September 2016.
Following the closure of both the restaurant and Four Brothers, the Insolvency Service looked into the conduct of Ahmed, and on 28 June 2018 a disqualification order was made by district judge John Preston Musgrave at Birmingham County Court against Ahmed for five years.
Ahmed was ordered to pay costs of £4,231.62 and from 19 July 2018, Ahmed is banned from being directly or indirectly involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.
Councillor Matthew Holmes, deputy leader and cabinet member for regeneration and public protection at the Insolvency Service, said: “A zero food hygiene rating should have rung alarm bells for Rushan Ahmed and forced him to get his house in order. But he decided to publish a bogus five-star hygiene rating designed to draw in business by making a false representation for commercial gain.
“This ban should serve as a warning to other directors tempted to engage in unfair commercial practices and if you abuse your duties you could be investigated by the Insolvency Service and lose the privilege of being a company director.”
