The managing director of a clothing chain, who pocketed nearly £68,000 in tax and national insurance contributions deducted from his employees' wages, has been jailed for 18 months.

Kemal Gediz also failed to pay his VAT in full for his businesses Aliko Ltd, which traded as Punkyfish and has a store in Centrale Shopping Centre and across London and the South East.

In May 2011, Gediz submitted a VAT return which showed sales of £1.2m for the 18-month period starting in November 2009.

But when HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) subsequently visited Gediz, they discovered paperwork showing sales were in fact £7.3m, some £6m more than he had declared.

The 49-year-old's lies resulted in a VAT underpayment of between £300,000 and £500,000 in VAT.

However, further checks revealed Gediz had also failed to file any tax forms or pay the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and National Insurance contributions he had deducted from the salaries of approximately 70 staff.

These contributions came to around £67,600.

Gediz, of Forest Road, east London, pleaded guilty to the offences on April 9 and on Friday, May 17, was jailed for 18 months.

David Margree, assistant director of criminal investigation at HMRC, said: "Kemal Gediz’s idea of getting ahead in business was to falsify his accounts and steal from his own employees.

"In doing so he deceived not only HMRC and his staff, but also the thousands of businesses that operate honestly and within the law."