A pair from Hounslow who help arranged a string of sham marriages to break UK immigration rules are among a group who have been jailed for a total of 23 years.

The scam came to light after a registry office reported suspicions of sham marriages to the Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigation (CFI) team.

Investigators found the ringleaders of the sham marriage ring to be 25-year-old Lithuanian Jurgita Pavolvskyte and her husband Ayaz Khan, 33, from Pakistan.

According to the Home Office, the pair arranged marriages between Pakistani men based in the UK, who had no legal right to remain in the country or it was due to expire, and Lithuanian women.

The unions were marketed as “business deals” costing €3,000, with all the brides aged between 18 to 25 and flown in specifically for the wedding.

Pavolvskyte and Khan's finances were scrutinised by the CFI team, who identified a number of individuals who made or received payments from both.

A spokesman for the Home Office said: “Further checks revealed that these payments coincided with marriages which would go on to aid applications for residency submitted to the Home Office.

“The Lithuanian woman would arrive for the ceremony and depart shortly after, in some instances once their fees had been paid.”

Pavolvskyte (left) and Khan were jailed on Wednesday (April 4)

Following an eight-week trial at the Old Bailey , Pavlovskyte and Khan were convicted on March 27 alongside Irfan Farooq, Tatjana Rolic, Muhammad Saqlain, Sheikh Ahmad, Valerija Bartosevic and Diana Stankevic.

Stankevic, of Nelson Gardens, Hounslow, was the third in command and acted as an interpreter, arranged false documents and helped the men with their Home Office applications for leave to remain in the UK.

She was married to Farooq, who she shared a Hounslow address with and who obtained leave to be in the country by entering into a sham marriage with her.

Saqlain, of Worcester Gardens, Slough, collected Lithuanian girls from the airports when they arrived and helped prepare them for marriage interviews.

He was married to Rolic, of Landsdowne Road, Ilford, and had also obtained leave to be in the country through a sham marriage, the same as Bartosevic and Ahmad, both of John Williams Close.

All eight were sentenced at the Old Bailey on Wednesday (April 4).

From left: Saqlain, Farooq, Ahmad and Stankevic

David Fairclough, assistant director of the Immigration Enforcement CFI team, said: “These sentences are the culmination of a thorough and detailed investigation by officers.

“This was an organised criminal operation and not the genuine enterprise Pavlovskyte and Khan made it out to be.

“They, and the other defendants sentenced, were motivated by financial gain in return for arranging individuals to cheat their way into the UK.

“We will not allow people to abuse our immigration laws in this way and anyone caught trying to do so will be brought before the courts.”

Khan and Pavlovskyte, both of Danehurst Gardens, Ilford, were sentenced to six and five years respectively.

Stankevic and Saqlain were jailed for three years while Farooq and Ahmad were jailed for 18 months.

Bartosevic and Rolic were both given 18-month sentences suspended for two years.

Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.

You can set up your app to see all the latest news and events from your area, plus receive push notifications for breaking news.

Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android .