A Sri Lankan fraudster who reaped £1.6m in VAT from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs(HMRC) by pretending to be a number of dead film producers, has been jailed for three years and eight months in the UK.

Sri-Lankan-born Damita Nikapota made a number of fraudulent VAT repayment claims via his Los Angeles-based film company, AS Productions, for films supposedly costing a total of £11m, including a British film ‘The Flying Scotsman’.

The conman impersonated other Hollywood producers - some of whom are dead - when contacting HMRC over the years since 2006, in order to validate and progress his claims.

HMRC said he is believed to have spent the proceeds of his crime on a luxurious Hollywood lifestyle, which included a Spanish-style villa in Malibu and extensive travel to places such as the Cannes Film Festival and Sri Lanka.

An HMRC investigation later discovered Nikapota had been removed from the ‘The Flying Scotsman’ film project and several of his companies linked to it had been in administration since 2005.

Nikapota was arrested by HMRC in April 2014, when he came to the UK for a short visit from Canada. He later pleaded guilty to ‘cheating’ at Southwark Crown Court.

HMRC Criminal Investigation assistant director Joe Rawbone said HMRC will initiate “confiscation proceedings” to recover the money Nikapota stole from UK taxpayers.

He said: “As we delved deeper into these VAT claims, the stories Nikapota had told us began to unravel and the plot began to thicken. Every single claim and shred of paperwork submitted by this man was fictitious.

“HMRC will continue to pursue fraudsters wherever they may be and make them face justice for perpetrating damaging attacks on the nation’s finances,” British media reports.