The accountant of a London cafe has admitted falsely claiming to The Pensions Regulator (TPR) that staff had been enrolled into a pension scheme in what was the first time the regulator has charged a third party, working on behalf of an employer, for this offence.
Hashmukh Shah, 63, pleaded guilty to knowingly or recklessly providing false or misleading information to TPR at Brighton Magistrates Court yesterday (Wednesday 15 August) and is now facing the possibility of an unlimited fine.
TPR had launched an investigation into Gran Caffe Londra in Knightsbridge, run by Primadell Ltd, after the company missed its deadline to confirm it had automatically enrolled staff into a pension in October 2015.
When TPR arranged an inspection, Shah falsely declared the company had met its duties but when later interviewed by the regulator he admitted purposefully misleading it.
Shah’s false declaration paused TPR’s investigations for more than a year, during which time the cafe’s staff continued to be denied pension contributions.
Darren Ryder, director of automatic enrolment at TPR, said: "It is totally unacceptable for an accountant or any other professional to file false documents to purposely avoid meeting an employer’s automatic enrolment pension duties.
"There is no legitimate excuse for such action, which denies staff the savings they deserve for their retirement.
"If a professional files false documents we will catch up with them and, like in this case, take action against them.
"This prosecution sends a strong message to accountants and advisers tasked with completing an employers’ automatic enrolment duties – if you provide us with false or misleading information we will take legal action which may leave you with a criminal conviction. We will also ensure backdated contributions are paid to staff."
Primadell became compliant in March 2018 and the company has backdated pension contributions for its staff.
The case has been adjourned until Wednesday 5 September for sentencing at Brighton Magistrates’ Court.
damian.fantato@ft.com
