Raymond Nevitt, the driving force behind a £3.25 million fraud on trade creditors, was given a 45-month prison sentence on Tuesday at Manchester Crown Court. Two other former directors of the Ravelle Group, involved in the fraud, were given suspended sentences.

The defendants were directors of companies in the Ravelle Group in Manchester, which sold second-hand computer parts to the PC-maintenance industry. The fraud centred around the creation of false sales documents designed to deceive factoring companies into providing finance to the Ravelle Group. Nevitt, who absconded in 2006 after being convicted in a related case, was sentenced in his absence.

Any information on his whereabouts can be reported to the police on 0161 856 6400 or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.