TWO brothers have been jailed for lying to the High Court over a disputed £40,000 payment they claimed had been made to an ex-wife.

Bhupinder Randhawa, 37, and Paulvinder Randhawa, 46, were each sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court.

The court heard that during enforcement proceedings at the Family Division of the High Court, in June 2015, Bhupinder claimed to have paid £40,000 in cash to his ex-wife at a Pizza Hut restaurant in Slough.

The false claim was supported at the High Court by older brother, Paulvinder, who stated under oath that he had given the cash to Bhupinder in order for him to make this payment.

The High Court judge referred the suspected perjury offences to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the case was assigned to police officers from the Westminster Serious Crime Unit of the Metropolitan Police.

The brothers’ statements were established as false. They had claimed that the money had been drawn in cash from a London casino. However, the police investigation established that no such cash payment had been made by any London casino around December 2013.

Bhupinder of Walnut Tree Road, Hounslow, and Paulvinder of Barn Way, Wembley were both were found guilty of perjury on Friday of last week, and sentenced the same day.

Det Con Stephen Bourne, who led the investigation, said: “Bhupinder’s motive was clear – he did not want to pay his ex-wife the money that was rightfully hers.

“Paulvinder, under a misguided sense of loyalty to his brother, attempted to corroborate Bhupinder’s lie.

“The jury were able to see the falsity of their claims.

“Perjury strikes at the heart of the criminal justice system and the verdict reflects the serious nature of this offence.”

Police chose not to identify Bhupinder’s wife in a statement following the court case. It is understood the claim referred to the now closed Pizza Hut restaurant in The Boiler House in Queensmere Road.