Four family members, who were convicted of selling counterfeit clothes, have been sentenced for a £1 million tax fraud after an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Brothers Yasir, Qaisar and Amar Choudry, and their brother-in-law Mudasar Alishan, were given suspended prison sentences in February this year after Trading Standards found they sold counterfeit clothes online. While investigating their tax affairs, HMRC discovered the men failed to declare earnings from online sales to evade paying Income Tax, VAT and Corporation Tax.

Yasir, 30, and Qaisar, 28, both of Duchy Crescent, ran a company called YMC Clothing Ltd selling goods online through eBay and Amazon. They didn’t declare their business earnings or their personal income to HMRC stealing £448,966 in taxes. Amar, 38, of Lynton Drive, and Alishan, 40, of Oakdale Drive, Wrose, sold goods online using personal accounts and between them stole £575,244.

All four men pleaded guilty to tax offences at Bradford Crown Court in May and were each sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, and 300 hours unpaid work, at the same court yesterday. YMC Clothing Ltd was also fined £500,000.

Proceedings are underway to recover the stolen money.