A businesswoman who bakes spectacular birthday cakes for the children of Premier League footballers was jailed for keeping a deaf and mute girl in a cellar as a slave, MailOnline can reveal.
Tallat Ashar’s stunning creations – including towering superhero-themed cakes – have attracted thousands of ‘likes’ on TikTok and Instagram, with the firm catering for parties for the sons of Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, defender Raphaël Varane and former team-mate Paul Pogba.
But unbeknown to its celebrity clients, behind the glossy social media sheen lies a dark link to one of the most shocking criminal trials in recent years.
In 2014, Ashar, the sole director of her firm Sugared Luxe Ltd – based in Eccles, Greater Manchester – was jailed for six years after she and her husband Ilyas were revealed to have smuggled a ten-year-old girl from Pakistan to the UK where she was subjected to appalling abuse.
Kept secretly in the ‘sparse, cold, damp’ cellar of the five-bed family home, the girl was repeatedly raped by Mr Ashar as well as being ordered to cook and clean for her captors.
Businesswoman Tallat Ashar, 78, who heads up cake making firm Sugared Luxe Ltd, today counts celebrities among her customers but in 2014 was jailed for six years for abusing a young deaf and dumb girl from Pakistan
Tallat Ashar’s customers include Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, pictured next to a cake produced by her company for his daughter’s sixth birthday
Cakes like the one made for football star Fernandes’ daughter (pictured) have attracted thousands of ‘likes’ on TikTok and Instagram
Shockingly, the callous couple were also able to pocket thousands of pounds claimed in the victim’s name.
She was finally rescued in 2009, but having never gone to school she had to be taught sign language, enabling her to give testimony to police which would later see the Ashars convicted.
In 2013, Mr Ashar – then 84 – was jailed for 13 years after being found guilty of 13 counts of rape as well as benefit fraud and trafficking.
His wife, then aged 69, was convicted of benefit fraud and trafficking and jailed for five years.
Jurors failed to reach a verdict on charges of false imprisonment, which both Ilyas and Tallat Ashar denied.
Judge Peter Larkin said that to the couple, the girl was ‘merely an object to be used, abused and cast aside at will’.
In 2013, Ilyas Ashar, 84, husband of Tallat Ashar, was jailed for 13 years after being found guilty of 13 counts of rape as well as benefit fraud and trafficking
The Ashar family house in Eccles, Manchester where the young deaf and dumb girl was kept in a cellar and sexually abused
Their sentences were later increased by the Court of Appeal to 15 years and six years respectively, while their victim was given help to start a new life.
Following her release, official documents show that Mrs Ashar set up Sugared Luxe Ltd in 2021.
Now aged 78, she is listed at Companies House as the sole director and person with significant control, owning more than three-quarters of the issued shares.
The actual baking and decorating is believed to be the handwork of her daughter Faazia, who is listed as secretary.
She told MailOnline that her mother was ‘not customer-facing’ in the business – but declined to say what her precise role was.
Raphael Varane, pictured with his family, used the cake company to celebrate his son’s birthday
A social media post by Sugared Luxe from July 2022 shows off the cake created for Varane’s son
In 2013 Faaiza Ashar, then 46, was ordered to complete a 12-month community order with unpaid work after being convicted of benefit fraud relating to the girl.
Passing sentence, a judge said she had been ‘manipulated’ by her parents.
Since its launch, the business has gone from strength to strength.
In 2022 Sugared Luxe Ltd baked a two-tier Spider-Man cake featuring double chocolate and strawberries and cream layers for the third birthday of French international Pogba and his wife Zulay’s son Shakur.
Later that year it made a four-tier cake for the fifth birthday of Varane’s son Rubén, as well as 20 ‘cakesicles’ and 27 individually boxed superhero cupcakes for his party guests.
According to the firm’s Instagram post about the creation, the brief was: ‘All of Rubén’s favourite superheroes in one cake!’
This time the layers were vanilla, chocolate brownie, Lotus Biscoff and chocolate fudge.
Then last year it created desserts themed around Disney movie Encanto for Fernandes and wife Ana Pinho’s daughter Matilde’s sixth birthday.
It has also made desserts for product launches by skincare expert Dr Martin Kinsella, husband of Real Housewives of Cheshire star and cosmetic dentist Hanna.
As well as celebrity clients, Sugared Luxe Ltd caters for weddings, bridal showers, baby announcements, birthdays, bar mitzvahs and graduations.
After being rescued, Mr and Mrs Ashar’s victim was helped to start a new life, attending college and enjoying visiting fairgrounds.
Asked about her mother’s involvement this week, Faaiza Ashar said: ‘I don’t see what this has got to do with anything.
‘She’s not customer-facing. The case didn’t involve poisoning – is she not allowed to do anything else with her life or show remorse?’
She declined to comment further.
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