An adviser jailed for attempting to steal £2.2million in a tax fraud has been named in HMRC’s top ten most significant fraud and organised crime cases of the last year.

Terrance Potter, 56, set up partnerships to produce films called 'Starsuckers' and 'Mercedes the Movie' and was the “architect of the fraud”, officials reported.

He was among a group of men jailed last year for a combined period of over 36 years for the crime.

HMRC’s criminal investigations led to 679 individuals being convicted for their part in tax crimes, with sentences for 2016 totalling more than 730 years.

Mr Potter was assisted by another financial adviser, Neil Williams-Denton, 42, who also promoted the schemes to high earning investment bankers.

An HMRC statement explained the background. It said: “Potter, a promoter of tax avoidance schemes, devised and sold a number of fraudulent schemes to wealthy professionals, which were portrayed to HMRC as being tax avoidance schemes exploiting legal loopholes. However, the bogus schemes were fraudulently underpinned by false documents, making them tax evasion.

“Potter set up two partnerships that were sold to the wealthy investors. One produced a film called 'Starsuckers', the other was a project to develop a package to be made into a film by others called 'Mercedes the Movie'.

“Together both partnerships claimed to have spent £5.7 million on the projects. This created artificial losses that allowed the investors to claim back PAYE tax they had paid.

“The partnership declared the losses in its tax return and so did the investors, which would have allowed them to recoup up to £40,000 in tax relief from HMRC, for every £20,000 they had invested. However, as the scheme was illegal their claim for tax relief was false. The claims were supported by false documents produced by Potter.”

Mr Williams-Denton, from Greater Manchester, was an independent financial adviser for Greystones Financial Services at the time of his arrest in 2012. He was convicted in September 2015 of one count of Conspiracy to Cheat the Public Revenue and then found guilty on a second count in December 2015. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment for each count to be served concurrently.

Three investment bankers, Phillip Jenkins, 51, James Hyde, 43, and Hamish MacLellan 43, were each convicted of one count of Conspiracy to Cheat the Public Revenue, and sentenced to thirteen and half years in prison, collectively at a previous trial.

In a previous trial, three investment bankers, James Hyde, Phillip Jenkins and Hamish MacLellan were sentenced for taking part in the fraud. Collectively, they were given thirteen and half years in prison, collectively at a previous trial.

Two independent film producers, Chris Walsh Atkins, 40, and Christina Slater, 37, were also convicted of Conspiracy to Cheat the Public Revenue, theft and fraud and sentenced to a total of nine years in prison today. Their role in the fraud was to circulate money and produce falsely inflated invoices.

Jennie Granger, director general of enforcement and compliance, HMRC, said: “This was pure greed by a dishonest tax agent, a financial adviser, and people who were already wealthy individuals.

“Those found guilty had no interest in the film industry, or regard for the impact on honest taxpayers. While it started with a tax adviser pushing a deeply fraudulent tax scheme, wealthy professionals investing in such schemes should be aware of the pitfalls. Those found guilty believed they were above the law, cheating the system by masking tax fraud as investment in films.

“Groundbreaking work from our expert investigators uncovered the full extent of the fraud, and this verdict shows that those who engage in this sort of activity are not beyond our reach. The message for anyone thinking of joining such a scheme is think again."

HMRC’s list of the top ten also included three men jailed for a total of 27 years for a film fraud disguised as a tax avoidance scheme, which was intended to defraud taxpayers of £100 million.

A trio including an accountant and a construction firm boss were jailed for a total of 19 years, after stealing £6.9 million in a payroll fraud to fund lavish lifestyles in another of the top ten.

An accountant who advised the media industry, was jailed for five years for a £6 million tax fraud.