Geoffrey Copp, 55, his son Joshua Copp, 24, and brother Andrew Copp, 51, were sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on 9 June. Geoffrey was jailed for 10-and-a-half years, Joshua received eight years and Andrew was handed nine years.

The trio ran Central Payroll Specialists (CPS), which was later rebranded as Quality Premier Services (QPS). These were umbrella payroll companies, which were used by recruitment agencies to manage the wages of thousands of temporary workers.

Over the course of three years, the Copps did not pass the VAT they received from the recruitment agencies to HMRC.

An investigation found that in 2013-14 Joshua transferred £2.4m to his personal bank account from CPS with a further £9.2m being transferred to him in 2014-15.

The companies paid just under £4m in VAT between September 2012 and 2015, with HMRC investigators estimating there was just under £46m in unpaid VAT. Tax records also showed that Geoffrey and Joshua paid no income tax between 2009 and 2015, while Andrew had paid £15,930.

In March 2016, all three Copps were charged with conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and conspiring to conceal, disguise, convert, transfer or remove criminal property. All were found guilty of the charges against them at a trial at Wood Green Crown Court on 5 June.

The money stolen was spent on various properties, luxury cars, jewellery, private jets and gambling. Essex police is now looking to recover as much of the cash possible.

QPS has been placed into liquidation as a result of a HMRC winding up petition. CPS was also liquidated.

Detective Chief Inspector Josie Hayes, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: ‘This was a sophisticated scam yet all three defendants consistently denied any knowledge that their companies owned such an enormous amount of VAT. They saw this money as a windfall to spend as they wished.

‘All three were well aware of what they were doing and played a substantial role in this conspiracy. Geoffrey set up the payroll companies and the mechanism of the fraud. Andrew became the director of QPS during the time when most of the VAT was stolen. And Joshua played an administrative role and shared out the proceeds.

‘Essex Police will also begin the process of applying for confiscation orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover the cash that should rightfully have gone into the public purse, ensuring they do not benefit from their criminality.

‘We have already obtained a restraint order for property and money valued at £22million, which ‘freezes’ property that may be liable to confiscation following a trial and the making of a confiscation order.

‘I would like to thank the witnesses who provided evidence during the investigation and trial, and staff at HMRC’s Criminal Taxes Unit, with whom we have worked with closely on this complex case.’