A family of fraudsters pocketed more than £45 million from the taxpayer and splashed out on a lavish lifestyle filled with luxury cars, artwork and mansions.

Geoffrey Copp, 55, together with his son Joshua, 24, and brother Andrew, 51, “shamelessly took money destined for the public purse to fill their own wallets and brazenly fund extravagant lifestyles”, police said.

From their Rickmansworth base, the Copps ran umbrella payroll company Central Payroll Specialists, later rebranded as Quality Premier Services, which was used by recruitment agencies to manage the wages of thousands of temporary workers.

But they only declared sales of around £20 million rather the actual figure of more than £250 million, and pilfered the VAT due.

The scam following an investigation led by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.

Enquiries led officers to Joshua, who declared his income as £19,256 between 2010 and 2015 while his bank accounts were credited with £11.9 million between 2011 and 2015.

Police found numerous luxury items at his home in Stotfold, Bedfordshire, including designer clothing, Rolex and Audemars Piguet watches, and deposit transfers for a Las Vegas casino, which showed he had deposited chips and foreign currency worth $1.5 million during a recent trip.

Joshua was also in the process of buying a £4.25 million property in Barnet, and owned a fleet of nine cars including a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, a Lamborghini Aventador, a Bentley Continental, and two Rolls Royces.

He was arrested on suspicion of money laundering and released on bail while enquiries continued.

Police then executed further search warrants and arrested all three Copps on suspicion of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and money laundering.

They found £55,000 in cash hidden in various places at Geoffrey’s home in Stanmore, including inside a Bentley GTC Convertible sat on the driveway.

Geoffrey owned at least one other property in Stanmore, which was mortgage-free, had a home in Malaga, and had bought three Bentley Continentals in cash between 2013 and 2015.

Several Rolex watches, works of art, and high-end cars were found at Andrew’s home in Cardy Road, Hemel Hempstead.

Andrew had five mortgage-free properties - four in Hemel Hempstead and one in Coventry - and another in Malaga.

In 2015 he paid more than £362,000 for a Range Rover Vogue, a Lamborghini Gallardo and a Bentley Continental.

Tax records showed that Geoffrey and Joshua paid no income tax between 2009 and 2015, while Andrew only paid £15,930.

In March 2016, all three Copps were charged with conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and conspiring to conceal, disguise, convert, transfer or remove criminal property.

The trio stood trial at Wood Green Crown Court and on Monday, June 5, were found guilty of the charges against them.

They will be sentenced on Friday.

A fourth man charged with false accounting and conspiracy to cheat the public revenue was found not guilty by a jury and acquitted of the charges.