dads ordered to pay £2,500,000 and have passports seized after installing fan in kitchen

Ahmet (left) and Sahin Gok,who run Meze Mangal in Lewisham are facing ruin

(Picture: Justin Griffiths-Williams)

Two brothers who have run a restaurant for 25 years have had their passports confiscated and been ordered to pay the council £2.5million after they installed an extractor fan.

Ahmet and Sahin Gok,who run Meze Mangal in Lewisham,are facing ruin after being dragged through their council’s bureaucratic purgatory after ‘trying to do the right thing’.

Lovers of Turkish cuisine across London have visited the restaurant – including Lewisham council officials.

But the same council has now handed them a £2.5million bill or a 14-year jail sentence after the restaurant installed an extractor fan – vital equipment in any major kitchen – without the correct planning permission.

Worse still,they have had their passports taken off of them as they were deemed a ‘flight risk’ despite living and working in the area for 25 years.

They have now gone without sleep,their health has suffered and the ordeal has left them ‘a shell of themselves’.

Sahin,57,told Metro: ‘This has taken so much from me,it does not even sound believable when I say it out loud.’

‘We installed the extractor fan to be good people’

The brothers with the extraction fan (Picture: Justin Griffiths-Williams)

They installed an extractor fan after receiving a complaint from the neighbours over odours and cooking noise.

The brothers happily paid £50,000 to make sure they no longer caused a disturbance – but setting them back financially.

Despite alleviating the problem,they were told they should have applied for additional planning permission as the restaurant is in a conversation area.

They decided to keep the extractor fan in place as they prioritised keeping peace with the neighbours.

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Forced to miss funerals

The brothers have had their passports confiscated after they were deemed ‘flight risks’

(Picture: Justin Griffiths-Williams)

Both their mum and dad passed away during the court process,meaning they missed attendance dates and hearings went ahead without them.

The council’s prosecutor also reportedly led the judge to believe the brothers were flight risks and both their passports were seized,The Big Retort reports.

This meant they were unable to attend the funerals of two separate family members after their parents’ deaths.

‘I pray we do not lose any more family members,’ Sahin said. ‘We have been here for years,and for us to be treated like this,it really does hurt.’

Ordered to pay £2.5million

The brothers are being prosecuted under the Proceeds of Crime Act,which is often used against drug dealers to recover money earned through criminal activity.

Every penny earned by the restaurant since installation is now considered a ‘criminal profit’,which is why the ordered cost is so staggeringly high.

And they have been told they must come up with the money to pay it,or face a hefty prison sentence.

Their business accounts have also been frozen,meaning they cannot financially operate and their staff members’ jobs are at risk.

But the brothers are determined to fight the ruling.

Sahin said: ‘Thankfully we have had a lot of support,and we will fight this. We have served the community for 25 years,so it really does hurt.’

They have set up a GoFundMe to help cover the expenses of their legal claim and help keep the restaurant afloat.

What does Lewisham Council say?

Lewisham Council said: ‘This has been a long running case since neighbours complained about the smoke,noise and smells from the restaurant before 2018. In 2019 the restaurant owners said they would remove the extraction system once their planning appeal had been dismissed.

‘However,the restaurant continues to operate with the illegal extractor eight years after this case was opened. Had the extraction system been removed at any point during that time then no further action would have been necessary.

‘The Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) has arisen because they have been found guilty by the Court of a criminal offence. The Court ordered confiscation of passports because the defendants did not turn up at Court hearings. This was a matter for the Court and we had no involvement.’