Directors at a company that traded in carbon credits have been banned from running a company for almost 10 years after a series of transactions deprived the Treasury of £19m.

Shiraz Omar Khan, 41 and Omar Chaudry Shareef, 34, were directors of ISK Management Ventures Ltd, which has been wound up following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

At the time of winding up, in March 2012, the company had debts of more than £128m.

The pair, as of July 1 this year, have been disqualified from promoting, managing or being directors of a limited company for nine and eight years respectively.

Between June and July 2009, ISK Management Ventures Ltd, which traded out of an address in Selsdon, carried out £189m of transactions over six weeks acting as an intermediate trader and working with companies who failed to pay VAT to the government.

The investigation found Mr Khan and Mr Shareef failed to conduct adequate due diligence into the supplier companies despite being made aware of the high risk of VAT fraud in their trade sector.

Paul Titherington, Official Receiver in the Public Interest Unit, part of the Insolvency Service, said: "This is not a victimless crime, the main impact being on honest tax payers and their families who as a result suffered the effects of funding shortages in healthcare, education and other front line services."