The director of a company that allowed his building to be used as an illegal shisha cafe despite warnings to shut down the operation, along with the business that ran the enterprise, have been told to pay upward of £380k by the courts.
Mr Bashdar Mohammed Abdullah, sole director of Tate Bashdar Ltd, let out the property 78-80 Wilmslow Road in south Manchester, allowing it to be used to illegally operate as a shisha cafe – known at Antalya Cafe – in breach of a planning enforcement notice.
Mr Abdullah, who currently resides in Iraq, pleaded guilty last year to offences under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and attended a sentencing hearing at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday 26 September.
Mr Abdullah has been ordered to pay a fine of £66,000, along with court costs of £8,193.50, and has had £176,072.12 of criminally generated income confiscated – payable by 26 December 2024. His company Tate Bashdar Limited – registered at 121 Oxford Road in Manchester – was also ordered to pay a fine of £10,000.
Subsequently, on Monday 30 September, the former sub-leaseholder of Antalya Cafe, Mr Javed Karimi, and the former operator Jaan Cafe Limited, together with the director, Ms Mary Karimi, were also sentenced for their part in failing to comply with the enforcement notice.
A confiscation order of £272,699.57 was imposed on Mr Karimi, together with a fine of £5,000. Mr Karimi had assets remaining of £115,865, which the court ordered to be handed over in 3 months. Mr Karimi has been given 12 months in which to pay the fines. Ms Karimi was ordered to pay a fine of £1,800.
In total, the court has ordered £382,930.62 to be paid through fines, court costs and proceeds of crime confiscations.
Council officers first became aware of the Antalya Cafe in 2018, operating as a mixed-used shisha bar, restaurant and hot food takeaway without the necessary planning permissions in place. Material changes had also been made to the shop front of the premises which were undertaken without planning permission, along with a range of internal works.
An enforcement notice was issued against the property which ordered the landlord to cease the unauthorised use of the premises and remove any works that did not have planning permission.
Following numerous attempts by Council officers to ensure compliance with the legal notice, including two visits to the premises to seize shisha pipes and tobacco, the property was still in breach of regulations four years later.
In collaboration with Financial Investigators at Salford City Council, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) was used, allowing the courts to confiscate money generated by illegal activities.
The court heard that although the enforcement notice has now been complied with, neighbouring residents have lived with the detrimental impact of the illegal operation for a number of years.
