THREE bosses of one the region's most high-profile petrol station and newsagent chains have been jailed for a multi-million pound tax fraud .

Bolton-based Aleef Garages Ltd has a turnover of £92m with 60 shops across Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire. But "criminality crept into every area of the business" according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) following their massive five-year fraud investigation.

Company directors secretly built up a huge nest egg of undeclared cash by using two tills in their shops - while only declaring the contents of one to the taxman.

In a complex £5m tax-dodging scam they used a Muslim charity to launder their undeclared income. Meanwhile, they kept a bogus payroll that allowed shop managers to falsely claim family tax credits.

Three brothers, Mustaq Hussain Patel, 53, of Canterbury Grove, Bolton, Iqbal Ahmed Patel, 51, and Mubarakali Ahmed Patel, 55, both of Headingley Way, Bolton, were jailed for three years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to cheat the Inland Revenue at Liverpool Crown Court yesterday.

The men have been ordered to pay back the money, plus £500,000 costs, and each has been banned from being a company director for ten years.

The court heard the men cooked the books to hide their fraud.

An 'unofficial' set of accounts allowed the trio to keep track of all their money. Meanwhile an 'official' set, prepared for their accountants, played down their income so they could pay less tax. The untaxed income was then used to fund the family's lavish lifestyles.

Much of it was siphoned into a cash fund which was paid into their father Ahmed Patel's bank account and the charity he ran, Great Lever Muslim Society. The money was then paid back out to his sons, sometimes using accounts kept in the Channel Islands.

The company paid its employees low wages which they declared to the taxman. This meant that workers could claim family tax credits on the side - when all the while the bosses were topping up their wages from their undeclared nest egg.

When the company, which employs around 250 people was raided, it also emerged that some of the workers were not on the payroll.

The investigators also found that a number of Aleef's shops were franchises where self-employed businessmen were disguised as employees.

This meant Aleef failed to declare the franchise payments it was receiving. The franchise managers were also in the money because they avoided self-employment taxes.

Six other conspirators - who are not related to the three brothers - also pleaded guilty to cheating the Inland Revenue and were sentenced alongside them.

Wages clerk and company PA Nichole Marie Patel, of Lever Edge Lane, Bolton, was handed 240 hours community work. She received a confiscation order of £36,500 and will face six months in jail if she doesn't pay up within 12 months.

The 34-year-old was Mustaq Patel's personal assistant and kept the bogus payroll which allowed directors to defraud the taxman and workers to falsely claim low-income benefits.

Inayat Patel, 34, of Leach Street, Bolton, ran an Aleef newsagents' franchise in the Arndale Centre in Manchester city centre. He got four months behind bars and faces a confiscation hearing next month.

Randal Street

Franchise manager Hanif Mahmet Patel, 46, of Randal Street Bolton got eight months. He ran two newsagents at St Peter's Square and Bridge Street. He received a confiscation order of £90,000 and will get an extra 12 months inside if he doesn't pay within a year.His business partner Usman Abdullah Patel, 45, of Leach Street, Bolton, got eight months and was ordered to pay £80,000, also with an extra 12 months inside if he doesn't pay.

Javeed Bashir, 48, of Castle Street, Bolton, ran a shop on Piccadilly. He got 200 hours community service and a £15,000 order. If he defaults he will get four months behind bars.

Franchise manager Ibrahim Vali Patel, 55, of Sunninghill Street, Bolton, got eight months jail. He ran a store next to Piccadilly train station. He has been ordered to pay £79,000 and if he fails he will spend an extra year behind bars.

Sentencing, His Honour Judge Swift said the fraudsters had participated "in a fraud on the community as a whole".

Steve Armitt. group leader of HMRC Criminal Investigations, said `the investigation was made all the more difficult because of the closed ranks of the employees involved, some of whom are close family members.

"It was cheating on a grand scale, and it deprived the Revenue of a great deal of money. Those involved tried to make it as difficult as possible for the cheating to be discovered."

The business was started by the father of the three jailed directorsAhmed Patel, 78, twenty-five years ago and has grown to around 29 garage forecourts and 26 newsagents across the North West.

Family members are avid cricket fans who hobnob with international players and drive a fleet of top-of-the-range Mercedes cars with personalised numberplates.

Ahmed Patel is still running the charity. A spokesman for the Charities Commission said they would "look to ensure that the charity is administered properly going forward."

The business, Aleef Garages Ltd, has been left in the hands of a younger generation of the family.

Anis Patel, 29, said: "It is business as usual for us. It's been a long process so we have prepared for this rather than bury our heads in the sand. The company is fine as a legal entity - it is three former directors who have faced charges.

"The uncertainty that was present has been removed and we will carry on business using rigorous new accounting procedures and a fully transparent auditing process."