Alan Hush, 68, Adam Sharoudi, 41, Gavin Brown, 48, and Gavin Cox, 60, were convicted by a jury at the High Court in Glasgow following an investigation at health boards across Scotland.

The offences spanning between 2010 and 2017 included bribery, corruption, fraud, theft and other offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Hush, telecommunications manager at NHS Lothian and then NHS Scotland’s video conferencing manager, was sentenced to eight years in jail. Sharoudi and Brown, directors of Ayrshire-based telecommunications firm Oricom Ltd, were imprisoned for eight years and seven years respectively. Cox, who held the post of head of IT and infrastructure at NHS Lanarkshire, will spend six years in prison.

Sineidin Corrins, deputy procurator fiscal for specialist casework at the Crown Office, said: “These four men colluded to create a sophisticated criminal scheme. The public will rightly be shocked by the scale of their criminality. The scale of this offending against our public health service is particularly egregious.

“The systematic abuse of position by public officials, who accepted inappropriate benefits including cash, holidays and entertainment in exchange for contract advantages, strikes at the heart of public trust.”

All four individuals will now be subject to confiscation action under proceeds of crime legislation to recover monies illegally obtained. Brown and Sharoudi were also banned from being company directors for 10 years.