A man from Carshalton who masterminded a group of six to set up a fake catering business and wrongly claim £240,000 has been jailed for three and a half years.

Michael Akindele, 50, from Newent Close, set up the firm to claim VAT payments of £240,974.29 before laundering the money through six bank accounts.

Investigators from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) intervened after discovering that the fake business had hijacked a person's identity to start the company.

Brett Wilkinson, assistant director of the fraud investigation service for HMRC, said: "This gang thought they were above the law and that they could get away with cheating the system.

“They were wrong and they are paying the price for their greed. Tax cheats take money from the public services we all rely on.”

HMRC also found that Akindele set up other fake businesses including a newsagents, a tobacconist and IT consultants as part of the fraud.

Akidele, director of GL Logistics in Micham, admitted money laundering at Kingston Crown Court on March 31 and pleaded guilty to cheating the public revenue.

He was sentenced to three and a half years imprisonment on October 3.

Chief accomplice, Abdul Mohamed, 30, of Chiswick, was sentenced to six months in jail, suspended for 15 months and made to serve 120 hours of unpaid work.

The four other members, who all pleaded guilty, were sentenced to three months in jail, suspended for 12 months and ordered to serve 100 hours of unpaid work.