Ex-director falsely accused business partner of being paedophile and harassed Michelin-starred chef

A former director falsely accused his business partner of being a paedophile and harrassed a Michelin-starred chef when their high-end Indian restaurant went bust, a court heard.

Ansarul Alom, 36, was in partnership with Saket Shrivastava and chef Peter Joseph at the exclusive Kahani restaurant in Belgravia, but was removed as a director when it fell into financial difficulties, Westminster magistrates court was told.

Alom went on to harrass the pair, even calling the NSPCC falsely accusing father Mr Shrivastava of being part of a paedophile ring, a lawyer for the businessman said.

Mr Joseph reported Alom to police after he received a stream of angry messages from June to December last year, branding him a ‘f***ing idiot,’ ‘liar’ and a ‘low-life.’

The chef, 43, told the court he had to move house, change his car and switch phone numbers to try to stop the harassment. 

The chef also suspected Alom of posting negative reviews on TripAdvisor in a bid to wreck the reputation of his popular business, which received a Travellers’ Choice Award on the website last year. 

One email sent from Alom to Mr Joseph read: ‘You can block me all you want, God knows this is wrong.

‘The whole industry now knows you are a fraud. How can you claim to be religious and God-fearing when you treat people like that.’

Alom claimed he had to face creditors when Kahani went into liquidation.

He claims Mr Joseph and Shrivastava, 47, had left him liable for unpaid bills totalling £400,000 after he was ousted from the restaurant.

In an impact statement read out in court, Mr Shrivastava described ‘feeling worried, anxious and frustrated at the reputation damage designed to undermine his business.’

Ms Leila Naheboo-Osman, prosecuting, told the court of the instance where Alom called the NSPCC to make unfounded allegations against Mr Shrivastava.

She said: ‘He accused him of being part of a paedophile ring grooming children.

‘After the call was made, police went round to investigate the way the victim was treating [his own] child.

‘That caused a great deal of distress to the victim. Police left finding no evidence of what was alleged.’

When Alom was found guilty of harassment, District Judge Michael Snow said he was ‘probably the only person in the room who thinks calling someone a ‘f***ing idiot’ isn’t abusive.’

The judge had said he did not believe Alom’s claims and said the chef ‘moved home because he was so harassed and frightened of him.’

Alex Mullen defending said: ‘In relation to the text messages, they are very unattractive. They revolve around the conduct of the business. 

‘They weren’t legitimate demands in relation to money owned by the restaurant to the defendant.’

Mr Mullen also highlighted that an unknown individual attended Mr Joseph’s address whilst Alom’s harassment was ongoing.

He said: ‘The reason he’s moved home is because of the unknown person, not the messages.’

Passing sentence, magistrate Carolyn Mishon said: ‘We have taken into consideration the impact on the victims and your guilty pleas.’

Alom, from Barking, was sentenced to a 12-month community order to carry out 200 hours unpaid work.

A restraining order was also imposed prohibiting Alom from contacting Mr Joseph and Mr Shrivastava or posting anything about them on social media.

He was also banned from attending the Kahani restaurant and the victim’s addresses.

He had admitted two charges under the Communications Act 2003. Alom denied harassment without violence, which he was convicted of.