TWO Southall women have been found guilty for their involvement in what is believed to be the biggest visa scam in British history.

Neelam Sharma, 39, and Rakhi Shahi, 32, both of Clarence Street, Southall, denied involvement in nearly 1,000 claims for visas from abroad and for residents in the UK.

But today a jury at Isleworth Crown Court found Shahi unanimously guilty of obtaining leave by deception, conspiracy to defraud and possessing criminal property.

Sharma was found guilty of possessing criminal property. The jury also asked for majority verdicts on her conspiracy to defraud and facilitation charges. Sentences will follow in due course

Both women are married to the scam ringleader, Jatinder Shama, 44, of the same address who has pleaded guilty to his part in what took place. He is due to be sentenced shortly.

Tony Smith, London & South-East Regional Director for the UK Border Agency said: "This was a mammoth investigation, involving officers working travelling between this country and India in an effort tom obtain evidence.

"The message this sends out is that we do respond to intelligence, we will raid premises we believed to be involved in illegal activity and we will bring those responsible to justice."

Applicants who used these fraudulent services came from all over the UK, as far afield as Newcastle upon Tyne and Wales

At an earlier hearing, Francis Sheridan QC, prosecuting said Jatinder Shama ran UniVisa at The Crescent, South Road, Southall, and offered foreigners access to Britain for cash by submitting hundreds of bogus immigration visa applications over a period of 18 months. He said all the papers were rubber-stamped by the Home Office.

Mr Sheridan said that what was taking place was a "systematic attack" which had opened the door to hundreds of unsuitable migrants without means to support themselves and which had left the UK taxpayer to foot the bill.

Met Police officers and officials from the UK Border Agency swooped after a journalist working for the Gazette posed as a migrant and uncovered evidence of counterfeit documents for sale, the court heard.

Mr Sheridan said when police raided the home the Indian trio shared in Southall, they discovered some 90,000 pages of documents, including 980 visa application files. Of these 117 were carefully analysed, with only four not raising significant concerns about their legitimacy.