The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has charged 13 individuals over a £2.5m tax fraud involving a complex film scheme, following an HMRC investigation into tax relief claims submitted by partnerships of which the individuals were members.

The CPS alleges that between 1 January 2007 and 8 February 2012, 10 of the defendants, four of whom were members of the now dissolved partnership Edinburgh and Walsh LLP, conspired to submit false tax returns in order to claim tax relief on the partnership's losses.

Seven of the 13 defendants are also alleged to have conspired to commit a similar fraud relating to the firm Jenkins and Hyde and Maclellan LLP during the same period. Three of the seven were members of that partnership.

Seven of the 13 individuals were investment bankers and none had any background in film development, the trading business for which both partnerships were apparently set up, the CPS said.

Donald Toon, HMRC director of criminal investigation, said: 'HMRC carried out a thorough investigation and the matter will now be put before the Courts. The vast majority of people pay the tax they owe, but for those we suspect may not be, no matter who you are or what your profession, it's only right we investigate.'