Matthew Heyward, 51, from Newton Abbot and Mark Baker, 56, from Goole have both been jailed at Winchester Crown Court for taking bribes amounting to over £1.6m while working for E.ON and later British Gas.

At the centre of the controversy was Cranbrook, a new town under construction where the E.ON was bidding to win lucrative contracts to install infrastructure.

Heyward was a quantity surveyor at E.ON, and Baker was head of build, and were taking bribes from 2011 to 2015.

They then left the company to go to British Gas, at which point the scam unravelled. At this point, senior managers at E.ON found large overspends at the Cranbrook site. This unravelled a trail of bribes from sub-contractor companies working on the project, as well as several bribery incidents at other sites.

Contractors won the business to install heating systems across the whole new town in exchange for various bribes. Heyward took over £1.4m in bribes during the four-year period, while Baker accepted bribes for more than £208,000.

Detective inspector Dan Parkinson from the Devon and Cornwall Police complex fraud team, said: ‘These individuals believed corrupt practice was widespread in the construction industry and the method by which business was done.

‘These corrupt practices are a parasitic blight on society.

‘These practices were often referred to as favours. Favours they are not, they are simply corrupt criminal practices.’

The bribery kickbacks occurred between 2011 and 2015 and were not all in the form of cash. They would be paid with vehicles, false references and inflated wage slips for mortgage and rental applications, hotel stays as well as one receiving an air con unit.

Three sub-contractors were involved in the bribery scheme, Richard King, 51 and Tim Paterson, 56, of RK Civil Engineering Ltd, were both jailed while Andrew Blunsdon, 57, of Priddy Engineering Services Ltd, was given a suspended sentence.

Heyward and Baker would syphon payments through business accounts the pair controlled, then provide fake invoices in the company’s name to hide the actual reasons for the payments.

Baker also managed to get a job for his wife, Angela Baker, 53, at E.ON in a planner role, receiving £109,000 for the 21 months she was employed there. However, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said she did ‘no such work’.

Tim Burton, specialist prosecutor from the CPS said: ‘This is a case of serious corruption and fraud within the energy sector, where the defendants abused their positions of trust and undermined the integrity of the industry.

‘In their roles, Baker and Heyward were expected to perform their functions impartially and in the best interests of the companies.  In reality, they were acting for personal gain and behaving in a completely dishonest way.

‘We are determined to work with investigators to root out corporate fraud and corruption and bring those responsible to justice.

‘We will also seek to pursue any money or assets gained through this criminality with our Proceeds of Crime Division.’

Heyward was jailed for two and a half years and Baker for three years and ten months, while Angela Baker was given a 13-month suspended sentence at Winchester Crown Court.

Paterson was jailed for four years, King for two years and five months, while Blunsdon received a 12-month suspended sentence.

Pictured L-R: Mark baker and Matthew Heyward