A total four people have been found working in violation of the UK immigration laws at two restaurants in St Austell.
Officers from the UK Border Agency (UKBA) discovered the group – from China – working at the Jade Palace in the town earlier this month (October 21st).
One of the Chinese members of staff was working in breach of the conditions of his UK visa, while a second was a failed asylum seeker and the third had entered the country illegally. A nearby raid on the Nepalese Gurkha also discovered a man from Pakistan who was found to have entered the UK illegally.
Kenny Chapman, head of the local immigration team for the UKBA in the south west, commented on the incident: "We will not tolerate illegal working which undercuts wages and exploits vulnerable workers.
"We do not expect employers to be immigration experts but they must make basic checks on migrant workers before they employ them."
The restaurants now face possible fines of up to £10,000 per employee if they are found to have not conducted the necessary right-to-work checks on the employees before hiring them.
Meanwhile, the group themselves are being held in UK immigration detention pending their deportation over the coming weeks.