Multi-millionaire actor Mark Wahlberg using taxpayers’ cash to pay staff at his London restaurant

MULTI-MILLIONAIRE American actor Mark Wahlberg has confirmed he’s using taxpayers’ cash to pay the staff in his London restaurant.

The Patriots Day star, who’s worth over £240miilion, decided to furlough staff at Wahlburgers, which is located in Covent Garden.

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Mark Wahlberg has admitted to paying his staff using the Government furlough scheme[/caption]

Mark, 48, opened the restaurant in May last year with his brothers, chef Paul, 56, and fellow actor Donnie, 50.

Following the lockdown he used the Government’s furlough scheme to pay the wages of his staff in the restaurant. It is understood to involve up to 30 workers.

A source said: “Mark’s decision to not personally bail out his staff has raised eyebrows, especially given how much he’s worth.

“A lot of the staff wondered if he’d help top up their wage packets but that hasn’t happened either.

“Everyone is grateful they’re getting a salary as obviously this is a difficult time. But when other stars like Ed Sheeran are helping out their staff using their own wealth it looks pretty bad.

“There had been talk of expanding the business, with up to ten more restaurants across the rest of the UK, but that’s now all on hold.”

A spokeswoman for Walhurgers confirmed the business was using the scheme created by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

In a statement she said: “The restaurant industry has been hit incredibly hard because of this pandemic.

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Mark attended the premiere of Netflix’s Spenser Confidential earlier this year[/caption]

“As a franchise organization, each individual Wahlburgers franchise has had to make decisions whether to keep its doors open or close indefinitely while we all navigate these challenging times together.

“The franchise group that owns Wahlburgers Covent Garden made the decision to use the Furlough scheme for their employees in hopes that the large team and Central London site can be retained without permanent closure.”

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