Gang 'ran UK's biggest visa scam'

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A gang accused of running Britain's biggest visa fraud factory exploited a "shambolic" system, a court has heard.

The Home Office's failure to spot dozens of bogus graduate applications was a "damning indictment", prosecutors told Isleworth Crown Court.

Rakhi Shahi, 31, and Neelam Sharma, 38, of Southall, west London, face fraud, immigration and other charges.

Ms Shahi's husband Jatinder Sharma, 44, has already admitted several offences after he was secretly filmed boasting.

'Liar and crook'

Sharma was caught when he offered to get an undercover newspaper reporter a post-graduate diploma in business administration and other papers for about £4,000.

He told the reporter work permits were "very risky" but the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) "will do good for you".

He had submitted a series of false documents to remain in the UK after visiting in 2003, the court heard.

The Home Office system was designed to operate with trust. The evidence shows it was naive in its conception and a shambles in reality Francis Sheridan

Prosecutor Francis Sheridan said evidence gathered for the case presented a "damning indictment" of failures by the Home Office.

Summing up the case against the two women, he said: "The Home Office system was designed to operate with trust. The evidence shows it was naive in its conception and a shambles in reality."

The Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) was also criticised by Mr Sheridan.

He said applications which had omitted important information were nevertheless approved.

Exams to qualify as an immigration adviser were also wide open to fraud as they could be taken online, the prosecutor added.

When police and UK Border Agency officials raided the defendants' alleged company, Univisas, in Southall in February 2008, they found 90,000 documents and 980 individual files, the court heard.

'Engine room'

They included false university certificates, academic records, bank statements and pay slips.

The alleged fraud centred on exploiting the HSMP and other leave to remain applications, with clients even offered a money back guarantee, the jury was told.

The fees charged ranged from hundreds to thousands of pounds, the court was told.

Mr Sheridan described Ms Shahi as an accomplished liar and crook who was the brains behind the business.

Former teacher Ms Sharma, who has two children by Sharma, was also a committed liar who worked in the "engine room", Mr Sheridan added.

All three lived together, hiding behind a web of false identities and documents, the prosecution claimed.

One former employee, who was paid £100 a week for administrative work, said she handed over £64,000 in £50 notes at one college in return for a pile of certificates.

The jury is expected to retire to consider its verdicts on Thursday.