A family-run London restaurant is facing a £2.5million “proceeds of crime” penalty after installing a kitchen extraction fan against council planning rules.
Meze Mangal, an award-winning Turkish eatery in Lewisham that has been open for more than 20 years, said it spent £50,000 on the fan system in 2014 after a complaint from a neighbour about cooking smells wafting into their home.
But owners Ahmet and Sahin Gok did not get planning permission for the small support structure at the back of the restaurant needed for the ventilation.
Lewisham Council opened an investigation and claimed the brothers said they would take out the extraction system “once their planning appeal had been dismissed” in 2019.
However, the owners said the fan “alleviated the complaints and solved the issue” with neighbours so did not remove it, prompting the local authority to begin court action.
They claim that in 2020 they were told the case had been dropped and then later reopened. Three years after that they failed to attend a court hearing, which they said was because of the medical needs of their ill father who later died, and were convicted in their absence.
This resulted in the town hall pursuing a proceeds of crime prosecution, a law usually used to target serious organised crime such as drug dealers and money launderers.
It allows the council to seize the profits the restaurant made while it has been in breach of planning laws.
This figure was initially calculated to be £2.5million, but could be reduced during an appeal.
The Goks, who came to London in the 1980s from their native north Turkey, said they were also deemed a “flight risk” and had their passports seized and business bank account frozen.
The brothers have now started an online fundraising campaign to fight the case, raising over £13,000 in less than a week.
Sahin Gok said: “Every single donation, message of encouragement, and act of support has given us hope, strength, and renewed determination during this incredibly challenging time...
“As we continue this fight, what we need now is pressure on Lewisham Council to drop the POCA charges against us.”
A Lewisham Council spokesman told the Standard that the court ordered the confiscation of the passports “because the defendants did not turn up at hearing” and it had “no involvement” in that aspect of the case.
The town hall also insisted that the £2.5million penalty was “guided by the rules set out in the Proceeds of Crime Act” and not by the council.
The spokesman added: “We always try to resolve cases informally, and prosecution is an absolute last resort.
“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.
“We are open to working with the restaurant to resolve the planning breach. Last month, we carried out a site inspection with the owners and offered advice on steps required to put a new system in place.
“The Proceeds of Crime Act has arisen because they have been found guilty by the court of a criminal offence.
“Our priority now is to ensure this matter is resolved as quickly as possible and we remain committed to working with the restaurant owners.”
