Syed Yousuf and Jabin Bi: Husband and wife ran £100,000 immigration scam while falsely claiming benefits to fund burgeoning property empire Syed Yousuf and Jabin Bi charged immigrants to create false documents The couple pleaded guilty to 26 immigration offences at court yesterday Couple applied for £267,000 mortgage to fraudulently buy home A husband and wife who fuelled their lavish lifestyle by exploiting immigrants' desperation to stay in the UK have been jailed. Syed Yousuf, 39, from Birmingham, and his wife Jabin Bi, 48, are believed to have pocketed more than £100,000 by charging to forge documents - while also claiming thousands in benefits and attempting to build a property empire. They both pleaded guilty to 26 immigration offences and applying for a £267,000 mortgage with Nationwide in 2010 to fraudulently buy one of three homes. Jailed: Syed Yousuf (left) and his wife Jabin Bi (right) pleaded guilty to 26 immigration offences after pocketing more than £100,000 from their deceit Yousuf was sentenced to four years ten months and Bi was given a severely reduced sentence of 24 months at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday. The couple initially helped to keep non-EU immigrants in the country as a 'good will gesture', but eventually found they were able to profit by charging them for fraudulent documents. Yousuf and his wife initially charged immigrants already in the UK up to £6,000 to help keep them in the country. The exact amount they earned through their criminality is unknown, but the Crown Prosecution Service estimated it to be more than £100,000. Judge Gregory Dickinson QC said the couple orchestrated a 'sophisticated' and 'devious' operation by conspiring to help 23 different people, many strangers, obtain leave to enter or remain in the UK by deception. Judge Dickinson told Yousuf: 'You deliberately sought to take advantage of the rules. Fraudulent documents have your handwriting on them, you used your bank accounts, you committed the crimes on your own premises and fabricated numerous identities. Arfan Ali (left) was handed a 19-month jail term after being described as a foot soldier in the criminal activity. Sounia Jabin (right) was given a 12-month community order and 100 hours voluntary work after she was charged with falsely claiming £4,500 in housing benefits Yousuf, who was 'at the heart of the scam', came to the UK in 2000 to teach English and claimed to earn £70,000 a year - but the court heard he paid no tax or National Insurance on his earnings. Bi also pleaded guilty to five other charges of fraud, including applying for two further mortgages totalling £470,000 and claiming almost £45,000 in benefits. Judge Dickinson told the mother-of-seven that he would be 'as merciful' as possible but she only had herself to blame. He added: 'This will be tough, your children will be effectively stripped of their parents following today's sentencing. But you have brought it on yourself. His words were met with tears as Bi sat in the docks weeping. Her family in court were also sobbing as she was told she would spend at least a year behind bars. The mum, who was previously described by peers as having high 'moral values and never trying to deceive', cried out as she was taken away by the court officer. Sentence: Yousuf was sentenced to four years ten months and Bi was given a severely reduced sentence of 24 months at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday Bi said: 'Please don't take me, my children need me. I didn't mean to hurt, please.' Yousuf, who had been sentenced earlier in the hearing, showed no emotion as he left the dock. His stepdaughter Sounia Jabin sat behind him charged with falsely claiming £4,500 in housing benefits. She was given a 12-month community order and told to do 100 hours of voluntary work 'to pay back her community' for what she took. Jabin gripped her mother as she was taken away to serve her sentence. Judge Dickinson claimed that her actions were a product of being surrounding by her criminal parents. The sentences were welcomed by Birmingham City Council who thanked investigating officers for foiling the family's benefit fraud and upholding a system 'designed to protect the most vulnerable in society'. We are cracking down on immigration crime, detaining, prosecuting and removing people and gangs who have been abusing the immigration system Andy Radcliffe, from the Home Office's West Midlands Criminal and Financial Investigation team Councillor Ian Ward, deputy leader of the council, said: 'The amount of money illegally claimed was staggering and this case clearly demonstrates we will do everything we can to pursue offenders. I would like to pay tribute to the efforts of our investigating officers for sending out a clear message to anyone thinking about doing the same - we will identify fraud and we will prosecute you. Yousef and Bi were also sentenced with Afran Ali, described as a foot soldier of their criminal activity, and Thi Luu. Ali, who travelled from Pakistan to the UK in 2004 on a two-year student visa, was handed a 19-month jail term for his involvement in the scam. Judge Dickinson said there was no evidence Ali benefited financially from the activity and that he was in no way in control of the dealings. The 35-year-old is currently serving three years for conspiring to produce cannabis and will be immediately deported on completion of his sentence. Mother-of-two Luu, who is now a British citizen after arriving in Birmingham illegally nine years ago, paid the couple £6,000 to help her stay in Britain. Judge Dickinson said: 'It would not be in the public's interest to put you behind bars and make you a burden on society.' She was handed a 12-month sentence suspended for 18 months for lying in order to remain in the UK. Andy Radcliffe, from the Home Office's West Midlands Criminal and Financial Investigation team, said: 'We are cracking down on immigration crime, detaining, prosecuting and removing people and gangs who have been abusing the immigration system. As this case shows, we work closely with local councils to bring before the courts those involved in scams that aim to defraud both the immigration system and taxpayers.