A gang of Ukrainian fraudsters living in swanky Brentford pads were jailed for cheating the tax man out of £4.5 million.

The 11 criminals, who used tax fraud to fund their swish lifestyles, were jailed for a total of more than 40 years; following an investigation by HM Revenue & Customs.

The gang created thousands of false identities and opened over 750 bank accounts in the scam , using the illegal cash to buy fast cars, Caribbean holidays and call girls.

The West London based group submitted at least 1,600 online Self Assessment tax returns of fictitious foreign migrant workers, falsely claiming they had worked in the UK and overpaid income tax.

HMRC officers searched seven pricey riverside Brentford properties in July 2009, where they uncovered the production line of fraud as well as a samurai sword, rifles and £360,000 cash.

Pictures uncovered by the officers show the gang perched on a row of luxury cars outside one of the expensive Brentford flats and another where they are enjoying an expensive meal.

Peter Millroy, Assistant Director of Criminal Investigation for HMRC, said: "This was a calculated criminal plot motivated by greed, which deprived the nation's public services of millions of pounds.

"We will not stop in our pursuit to bring those involved in this type of criminal activity before the courts and will work tirelessly to recover the proceeds of their crime for the public purse."

Damian Giers, 32, who lived at Point Wharf, Brentford, where flats sell for as much as £660,000, was sentenced to four years after admitting to conspiracy to cheat the public revenue as was his house mate Oleg Zdyshchuk, 23.

Marek Stanislaw, 23, also of Point Wharf, was sentenced to three years nine months.

Marek Krinikicki, 27, of the riverside Moorings House, in Tallow Road, Brentford, also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, while his two house mates, Andrey Klym, 26 and Artur Nalecki, 31, both received 21 months.

Volodymyr Panchak, 27 of Town Meadow, Brentford was sentenced to six years, one month for conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and possession of false identity documents, and Olesya Kovbasa, 28 and also of Town Meadow was sentenced to four years.