Investigators then traced the liquid to 56-year-old Christopher Reardon, from Hastings, who had falsified 679 sales invoices to hide the true identity of his customers in an attempt to disguise the scheme.
He received a four-year term for evading VAT and excise duty.
Despite HMRC’s intervention and the investigation by Trading Standards, the gang continued tocarry out the fraud, switching from kerosene to biodiesel.