A British family has been accused of 'conning' the Swedish state out of more than 50million kronor - £4.25million - by selling 'overpriced or mislabelled' cleaning products to local councils.

Peter Gold, a wealthy British businessman now reportedly living in the U.S., set up no less than five companies selling everything from wet-wipes and bin-bags to printer ink and 'ice-melting chemicals', in Sweden in 2003.

Gold's wife Janice and two sons, Daniel and Nicholas - who is married to the model daughter of celebrity chef Aldo Zilli - are all listed as former directors for several of them.

Nicholas, known as Nick, wed reality TV star Laura in a lavish beachside ceremony in his parents' new hometown Miami, Florida, earlier this year, and Mrs Zilli Gold's Instagram is littered with luxurious family holiday snaps.

Allegations: An investigation by Swedish journalists claimed that companies owned by Peter Gold, pictured with wife Janice who was a company director, sold 'ice-melting chemicals' to councils which turned out to be 96 per cent road salt - at 165 times the price of road salt

Nick Gold pictured at his wedding to Aldo Zilli’s daughter Laura

Renowned investigative TV-show Uppdrag Granskning has now alkeged that until they went into liquidation last year, the Golds' companies had been paid 55million kronor (£4.68m) in Swedish taxpayers' monies - for goods the investigation claims were worth just five million (£430,000)

They allege that the companies were able to get local councils to sign orders for their goods by using 'pushy and misleading telesales in combinations with bribes, gifts and threats'.

One council in Kil, Värmland, ended up with enough 'ice-melting chemicals' to last them 30 years, after a former council-worker signed up for deliveries from the company at a rate of 165 kronor (£14) per kilo.

In total, the council reportedly bought 6,440kgs (14,197lbs) of 'ice-melting chemicals' from Universal Solutions, a Stockholm-based company where all four members of the Gold family are listed as former directors.

Analysis by SVT found that the chemicals was in fact 96 per cent normal road salt, retailing for around one krona per kg - around 8.5p.

The companies which had Nick Gold listed as a director have been accused getting Swedish councils and state-owned companies sign orders for their goods by using 'pushy and misleading telesales in combinations with bribes, gifts and threats'

Luxury lifestyle: Laura Zilli Gold, pictured with husband Nick Gold, often shares images from their family's lavish holidays on her Instagram, including visits on yachts, and private yet travel

'If this [the 'ice-melting chemicals'] costs 165 kronor per kilo it is definitely a con,' head of research at Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute Björn Kalman told Uppdrag Granskning.

Having tested the ice melting capacity of the chemicals sold by the Golds' companies against normal road salt, he added: ' I would say the effect is the same. If anything, normal salt is more effective.'

All five of the Golds' companies - Royal Chemical Industries, Millennium Computer Systems, Genlite Search, Universal Solution and Interpoly Chemicals - were placed on a list of 'untrustworthy corporations' in Sweden, aimed at warning others from using their services, in 2011.

The companies, which according to Uppdrag Granskning had sold products to 216 councils and 140 state-run companies, were placed in liquidation in 2017.

Expats: Peter Gold's five companies named in the investigation were founded in 2003, ended up on a warning list of 'non-serious corporations' in 2011, and entered liquidation in 2017

The Swedish TV team were able to track down Nick Gold at his multi-million pound home in north London, where he denied being involved in his parents' businesses.

'I am not involved in the company, I don't own any stocks, I am not a director, I have not profited from this,' he told reporter Staffan Florén Sandberg.

However, Companies House has him registered as a former director in Millennium Computer Systems, Universal Solutions and Interpoly Chemicals.

Nick Gold has informed Mail Online that he was a non-executive director of Royal Chemical Industries AB, Millennium Computer Systems AB, Genlite Search AB, Universal Solutions Sweden AB and Interpoly Chemicals AB, and that during his time as a non-executive director he was not involved in the business of any of those companies either as an employee, shareholder or board member. By 10th October 2011 his non-executive directorship in all these companies had ceased.

He is also listed as a director of the company running scandalous nightclub and celebrity hotspot The Box in London's Soho.

MailOnline has contacted The Box as well as representatives for Laura Zilli Gold and Aldo Zilli for comment. Efforts have been made to reach Nick Gold and his family.