London: The millionaire brother of former England football captain Gary Lineker was jailed for two-and-a-half years on Monday for a ? 220,000 tax fraud.

London’s Southwark Crown Court heard how for 18 months sports bar owner Wayne Lineker smuggled cash into Britain using a ‘tried and tested’ money mule system of unsuspecting family and friends.

Lineker owns a string of pubs in the Canary Islands, Cyprus and Portugal. But the court heard how bundles of pesetas and escudos were laundered into sterling with the help of city stockbroker John Stacey.

The 43-year-old Lineker admitted one count of conspiracy to defraud the inland revenue from 1999 to 2001.

His manager David Hodges, also 43, pleaded guilty to the same charge and received a 20-month sentence.

Stacey was convicted of conspiracy after a two-week trial earlier this year. He was jailed for 18 months. (AFP)