Francisco Ageitos-Martinez, latterly based in Brixton, submitted bogus invoices to HMRC for £4m of lighting and camera equipment to reclaim the VAT he had supposedly paid.

The creator of straight to DVD films ‘Street Dance’ and ‘Steppin' Krew’ ploughed the payments into his failing business while renting a £4,000-a-month apartment on Shaver’s Place, just yards from Piccadilly Circus.

The three-year fraud was uncovered when checks with one of the filmmaker’s alleged suppliers revealed invoices used to support a £40,000 VAT refund were fake. Investigators discovered Ageitos-Martinez had received fraudulent repayments totalling £592,000.

HMRC found a string of counterfeit invoices on Ageitos-Martinez’s computer when they searched his home and Wimbledon production studios in March 2014. He was a director of five companies: Decode Ltd, Moment In Time Ltd, Media Anchor Films Ltd, 3Dality Ltd, and Lipstick Media Ltd.

Analysis of the Spaniard’s financial affairs revealed these production companies, all of which are no longer trading, were struggling to turn a profit and were kept afloat with the fraudulent VAT repayments.

Shortly after his arrest, Ageitos-Martinez downgraded from his central London apartment to a one-bedroom flat in Brixton.

He pleaded guilty to the fraudulent evasion of VAT at Inner London Crown Court and was sentenced to 32 months in prison.

Martin Brown, assistant director, fraud investigation service, HMRC, said: ‘Ageitos-Martinez sold himself as a talented producer, living the showbiz lifestyle from a high-end flat in the heart of London’s West End. But beneath this thin veneer of success, he was nothing more than a cheat.’