Mohammed Shareef, from Harrow, was a director of two companies: Acme Foods Ltd and Orion MG Ltd, and franchisee of nine Baskin Robbins ice cream shops in London.

Baskin Robbins was not subject to this criminal investigation or court proceedings. The company was simply franchisor of the ice cream shops operated by Shareef.

The HMRC investigation into Shareef found he had submitted false VAT repayments claims for £1,669,463 over a six year period between September 2009 and August 2013. In total he claimed VAT repayments of £1,542,842 for Acme Foods and £126,621 for Orion MG.

Investigators found he had used false paperwork to support his claims for shops that had already closed, had yet to open, or that simply did not exist.

In a bid to distance himself from the fraud, Shareef claimed that his company’s finances were managed by an accounts team in India, who submitted VAT returns on his behalf. He said he had no knowledge of the false documents that had been found on his personal computer.

But investigators proved he was the author of files containing false invoices, bank statements and VAT summaries. The fake bank statements contained spelling mistakes, duplicate transactions and glaring errors such as transactions dated 2011 in a statement for 2012.

HMRC said Shareef used the money to rent a property on a prestigious gated development in Harrow-on-the-Hill, lease a Mercedes car, pay for private school fees and to prop up his failing franchises.

He was arrested in February 2014, when he arrived at Heathrow Airport from Dubai, after irregularities were uncovered during checks of his business accounts. HMRC officers seized three mobile telephones, two laptops and two USB memory sticks at the time of his arrest, which contained evidence of his involvement in the fraud.

Shareef was found guilty of cheating the public revenue after a trial at Southwark Crown Court and sentenced to eight years imprisonment. He was disqualified from being a director for 10 years.

Jennie Granger, director general for enforcement and compliance at HMRC, said: ‘Shareef stole a huge amount of money to fund a wealthy lifestyle that he couldn’t afford, and tried to blame the fraud on others. But our investigation clearly linked him to the faked documentation showing he played a pivotal role and tried to cover his tracks.

‘We will not tolerate tax fraud and will thoroughly investigate those who steal money that should be funding public services. Our job doesn’t finish when someone is jailed and we will now start confiscation proceedings to reclaim the money he stole.’