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A failed St. Aubin restaurant has been ordered to pay more than £70,000 in outstanding Social Security contributions – just two weeks after a previous order relating to £60,000 in unpaid tax.
Sushi and steak eatery Shinzo, which received more than £200,000 in pandemic support funding, first opened in August 2020.
However, it shut its doors last month amid claims that it hadn’t received enough Government help.
The Royal Court heard on Friday (22 July) that the restaurant owes £70,968.59 in Class 1 Social Security contributions: £4,633.26 for 2020, £49,196.54 for 2021, and £17,138.70 for 2022.
Final demands for the “considerably overdue” payment were sent on 9 and 16 June and a court summons sent to the restaurant’s St. Brelade address on 7 July.
However, the company was not represented in court when the case was heard on Friday.
Pictured: Shinzo was not represented in court despite summons being sent.
It comes just two weeks after the restaurant was ordered to pay the States of Jersey £63,058.78 in ITIS contributions for 2020 to 2022.
The Royal Court heard on 8 July that the restaurant owes £2,303.80 for 2020, the year it opened; £33,922.74 for last year; and £26,834.24 for this year.
As with the latest judgment, no one appeared to represent Shinzo in the Royal Court.
Shinzo first opened in August 2020 but shut it doors in May with its owners, Gavin and Lisa Roberts, citing the pandemic and the lack of financial support as reasons for the unexpected closure.
Since then, two former employees have won claims totalling around £6,000 for unpaid wages and the Government has denied that it owned the restaurant £85,000 in unpaid covid support.
In May, Director General of Customer and Local Services Ian Burns, whose department was responsible for administering covid funding, said Shinzo received almost £230,000 via the Co-funded Payroll Scheme.
At the same time, Mr Roberts told Express that he was looking forward to revealing his next project to islanders.
Goodbye Shinzo, 'sushi' you later!
Gov defends itself against Shinzo owner's closure blame
Ex-Shinzo employees claim £6k in unpaid wages
Failed sushi restaurant owes £60,000 in unpaid taxes
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