DODGY car washes hiring illegal migrants have been fined £12million over the past four years — with most of it not yet repaid.
Shady bosses behind a surge in modern slavery who pay smuggled-in workers next to nothing are simply closing down or selling up after being nabbed to avoid stumping up.
STEVE ALLENDr Clean car wash in Bradford changed name and ownership after an £80,000 fine was issued[/caption]
NNPSham Car Wash in Grindon, Sunderland, was fined £45,000 last year[/caption]
STEVE ALLENThe car washes are closing down or selling up after being nabbed to avoid stumping up[/caption]
Figures obtained by The Sun on Sunday show the number of street corner firms fined has rocketed 800 per cent since 2021, and £8million in fines is still outstanding.
One MP said the level of illegal working was the “tip of the iceberg” and the Car Wash Association insisted the problem should have been “nipped in the bud”.
As well as being fined, company directors caught using illegal workers can face up to five years in jail or be banned for good.
The Home Office publishes names and addresses of firms do not pay.
But when we visited several premises, the owners claimed to know nothing of the penalties.
One was Sham Car Wash in Grindon, Sunderland, fined £45,000 last year — equivalent to the penalty for one illegal worker.
When we called, there were two workers and Saman Maijd, 40, from Iran. He said he and his brother took over at Christmas, after the fine’s issue.
He added: “My brother owns the business. I don’t know much about what happened with the fine.
“We have to put down the names of the employees in the books. If they don’t want to be in the books, then we don’t want to employ them. If you don’t do it properly, you bring trouble for yourself.”
We also went to what had been the Car Clean Centre Hand Wash in Coventry whose owner, Mohsin Aziz Abulkarim, was ordered to pay £180,000 last year.
However, we found a new business — Express Hand Car Wash — registered under a new owner.
Two workers refused to comment on the fine when approached.
Our reporter also called at what had been the Mr Clean Car Wash, on Crown Street, Bradford, which was penalised £80,000.
Again, we were told the business, now called the Dr Clean Car Wash, had swiftly changed hands, the new owner saying he had been running the firm for six months.
There is no suggestion any of the companies are operating illegally or employ illegal staff now.
Last night, Labour’s Security Minister Dan Jarvis defended the new government’s record and promised to do more.
He said: “When we entered government last year, illegal working was running rife throughout the country, with taxpayers and honest businesses being ripped off and undermined.
“Since we took office, we have taken swift action to clampdown on this criminality, with arrests up by 51 per cent and visits up by 48 per cent.
“But we know more still needs to be done.
“That’s why Immigration Enforcement will continue to work with partners to hold unscrupulous employers to account.”
Government sources added an eight-year high amount of fines were dished out in the first part of this year.
Tory MP Neil O’Brien said those caught were “the tip of the iceberg”.
He said there was a huge amount of modern slavery.
He added: “Companies are making a lot of money based on business models on employing illegal, often exploited immigrants. The Government has failed to get a grip.”
Some suffer with awful skin rashes because they have no protective equipment.
Alexander Russell
According to Home Office figures, only 18 car washes failed to pay fines for employing migrants in 2021, totalling £289,000 in all.
By last year, the figure had surged to 158 businesses owing £7.9million, a 778 per cent jump.
Government sources stressed that part of that came under the previous Tory administration and fines had increased under Labour.
Alexander Russell, the head of strategy for the Car Wash Association, said: “These are just the ones who have been caught. I’m sure it’s a small minority of the total.
“When they get fined, they close the shop and reopen the next morning under a different name.
“It’s difficult to recover these fines because they liquidate the company, and they also say they need more time to pay them.
“The problem was not nipped in the bud in the early days.”
STEVE ALLENCar washes hiring illegal migrants have been fined £3million a year over the past four years[/caption]
STEVE ALLENShady bosses pay smuggled-in workers next to nothing[/caption]
On the conditions the migrants work in, he said: “Some suffer with awful skin rashes because they have no protective equipment.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has vowed to ramp up raids on businesses that hire illegal workers.
Last year, Vittorio Dragoti, 28, owner of Fiveways Car Wash in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was fined £180,000 and banned as a company director until 2032 for hiring four illegal Romanian workers.
And Iraq-born Dilshad Shamo, 41, and Iran-born Ali Khdir, 40, admitted people smuggling — operating out of a car wash in Caerphilly, South Wales.
