THREE Bournemouth brothers connected to the long-established Alcatraz group of restaurants and pubs have been convicted of a £3.8 million tax fraud.

Hedayat, Shahab and Shahin Hashtroudi were found guilty following a trial lasting eight weeks at Southampton Crown Court.

The three men, who all live in luxury homes in the Talbot Woods area, were all convicted of cheating the public revenue.

They will be sentenced on February 1 at Southampton and are facing lengthy jail terms.

Shahab Hashtroudi, who, yesterday, told the Echo he was speaking on behalf of all three brothers, declined to comment ahead of the sentencing hearing.

The Alcatraz Group, which has been in operation for more than 40 years, runs the Alcatraz Caffes at Horseshoe Common in Bournemouth and High Street, Poole as well as the Sir John Barleycorn pub at Cadnam in Hampshire.

The group employs around 200 people.

  • Shahab Hashtroudi, 63, of Carrbridge Close was convicted of four charges of cheating the public revenue by failing to account for the PAYE and Value Added Tax between October 28 2008 and June 29 2016. The charges relate to the Alcatraz Dining Group Ltd, Alcatraz Pub Company Ltd, Alcatraz Restaurant Company Ltd, Alcatraz Wine & Beer Company Ltd, 8 Rivers Inns Ltd, 8 Rivers Restaurants Ltd, 8 Rivers Pub Ltd, Apricot Pub Company Ltd, Apricot Restaurant Company Ltd, Alcatraz Group Ltd and Candy Experience Ltd.
  • Hedayat Hashtroudi, 66, of Stirling Road was found guilty of one charge of cheating the public revenue by failing to account for the PAYE and Value Added Tax from Apricot Pub Company Ltd, Apricot Restaurant Company Ltd and Alcatraz Group Ltd. The offence is alleged to have taken place between February 21 2012 and October 30 2014.
  • Shahin Hashtrousi, 56, of Dunkeld Road was found guilty of cheating the public revenue by failing to account for the PAYE and Value Added Tax from Alcatraz Dining Group Ltd, Alcatraz Pub Company Ltd, Alcatraz Restaurant Company Ltd and Alcatraz Wine & Beer Company Ltd between October 28 2008 and September 10 2010.

An HMRC spokesperson for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs said: "This fraudulent behaviour is never acceptable and we will work to bring to justice anyone involved in this type of criminality.

"Anyone with information about tax fraud should report it to HMRC online at gov.uk/report-an-unregistered-trader-or-business or contact our Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887."