Five fraudsters who ran a fake Bangladeshi visa scam and falsely claimed £13 million in tax repayments have been sentenced to total of 31 years in jail.
They were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, reports UK-based media the Telegraph.
London law student Abul Kalam Muhammad Rezaul Karim, 42, the ringleader in the organised crime group, got 10 years and six months.
His brother-in-law Enamul Karim, 34, was sentenced to nine and four months and Kazi Borkot Ullah, 39, to five years and ten months in jail.
The two others—Jalpa Trivedi, 41, was handed a three year jail sentence and Mohammed Tamij Uddin, 47, two years and six months.
The gang set up 79 phony companies and created fake documentation used by Bangladeshi nationals in fraudulent visa applications.
They also used the companies to fraudulently reclaim £13 million in tax repayments from HM Revenue and Customs over a six-year period.
Officers found that Karim, Enamul Karim, Borkot Ullah, accountant Trivedi, and Tamij, 47, charged clients for temporary visas wanting to remain in the UK a minimum of £700 in cash for their fraudulent immigration services.
The gang claimed their clients were employees as part of their tax and immigration fraud. They created fake pay slips and provided false information on around 900 visa applications to ensure eligibility for a Tier 1 visa.
An investigation into their wrongdoing was the “longest ever undertaken” by Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation team.