Three company directors and five employees of a Manchester newsagents and forecourt chain appeared in court last month accused of large-scale tax fraud.
The seven men and one woman are alleged to have conspired to cheat the Inland Revenue between April 1998 and April 2002.
It is claimed the defendants, all but one of whom live in Bolton, cheated the Revenue out of income tax and corporation tax and interest by diverting income from Aleef Garages Ltd. They are also alleged to have failed to declare untaxed profits.
The three directors are: Mustaq Patel, 50, of Canterbury Way; Iqbal Patel, 50, of Headingley Way, and Mubarakali Patel, 54, also of Headingley Way, all in Bolton.
Other defendants present at Liverpool Crown Court were: Nichole Patel, 33; Hanif Patel, 45; Ibrahim Patel, 54; and Javeed Bashir, 46, all of Bolton; and Inayat Patel, 33, of Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire. A ninth defendant, Usman Patel, 44, of Bolton, was not present because he is away on a pilgrimage.
They were all remanded on bail by Judge David Swift until January 11 when they are expected to enter their pleas.