West Lothian-based Linear Services handled payroll for 27 employment agencies but didn’t hand over VAT they owed to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) during a two-year fraud.

Graeme Cullen, Leslie Thompson, Graham Newall and Martin Lang ran the firm that charged VAT on invoices totalling £8.8 million between 2015 and 2017. The court heard the gang lived extravagant lifestyles with huge amounts of money spent on expensive homes, holidays, diamonds and even gold bullion.

Mr Thompson is already serving a six-year sentence for his role in an elaborate multi-million-pound tax fraud that led to convictions for a network of 20 corrupt company directors.

The 63-year-old, from Bathgate, West Lothian, was jailed in October, while his wife Beverley was handed a two-year suspended sentence for her role in the elaborate scam.

The gang were caught following a lengthy investigation by HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, who worked alongside partners from Police Scotland’s Specialist Crime Division.

Mr Lang, 68, pleaded guilty on 30 January. Mr Cullen, 54, Mr Thompson, 63, and Mr Newall, 49, were sentenced on 21 April after an eight-week trial at Glasgow High Court.