Fraudster couple funded champagne lifestyle of exotic holidays and a plush home in £1million insurance scam Elina Jaksone and Gagik Manucharyan exploited other immigrants Promised to get them car insurance but lied to secure cheaper deals Cheated taxpayers out of £340,000 by failing to report earnings to HMRC Spent cash on holidays in Jamaica and expensive private school for son By Hugo Gye and Damien Gayle An immigrant couple who used a motor insurance scam worth nearly a million pound to fund a lifestyle of luxury holidays, fast cars and a huge home were jailed today. Latvian Elina Jaksone and Cypriot Gagik Manucharyan, who lived in a £365,000 detached house in Kent, even put their son through one of the country's most elite private schools on their ill-gotten gains. They duped hundreds of innocent motorists with a 'ghost' brokerage offering cut-price insurance, then robbed the taxman by failing to declare any of the £920,000 takings. Jailed: Gagik Manucharyan, left, and Elina Jaksone, right, have been imprisoned for defrauding insurance companies out of thousands and spending the money on holidays in destinations like Mauritius, pictured The couple took money from fellow immigrants in return for arranging their car insurance, then lied about their clients' driving history in order to secure cut-price rates from insurers. The scam meant that the unsuspecting customers' coverage was invalidated, leaving them uninsured even though they had paid their premiums in full. Jaksone, 36, and Manucharyan, 40, took £100 commission on each deal, making the scam the biggest ghost brokerage fraud in British history. In addition, Jaksone claimed £82,000 in benefits by fraudulently posing as a single mother and using her mother's details to get the winter fuel allowance and pension payments. The couple spent their money on a luxury home in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent and fees for their son to attend one of Britain's top schools, which cannot be named by order of the court. Home: The immigrant couple bought this luxury house in Kent using their ill-gotten gains They enjoyed exotic holidays in Jamaica, Mauritius, Mexico and Japan, and drove 'his and hers' Mercedes costings tens of thousands of pounds. By hiding their earnings from HMRC, they deprived taxpayers of £340,000. Jaksone and Manucharyan were charged with insurance and benefit fraud and convicted after a seven-week trial at Maidstone Crown Court. The former was found guilty of three counts of insurance fraud, and admitted one count of cheating the Revenue and one count of tax credit fraud. Her lover was convicted of three charges of insurance fraud, and pleaded guilty to one charge of cheating the Revenue. The couple begged judge James O'Mahoney not to separate them from their children by jailing them, but he retorted: 'That misery of being kept away from your children, is of your own making.' Lifestyle: The fraudsters made enough money to send their son to an elite private school Manucharyan was jailed for five years and two months and Jaksone for five years. The judge also ordered their deportation on their release. 'You spared yourself little of the best things in life - expensive cars, holidays in Mauritius and Jamaica and private education for one of your children,' he told them. In this country now and for some time, many honest taxpayers are struggling to make ends meet, pay their rent and mortgages and for some the idea of a holiday of any kind is beyond their dreams, let alone Mauritius and Jamaica. Mr O'Mahoney described the pair as 'highly intelligent and resourceful' but said they 'couldn't have cared less' if people had suffered financial loss from their double dealings. Over 30 drivers gave evidence at the couple's trial, saying they thought the insurance deals were legitimate and did not know the couple had lied to insurers on their behalf. The pair now face a financial investigation by officials looking to recover as much money as possible from the frauds. David Margree, assistant director of HMRC, said: 'Jaksone and Manucharyan cheated honest, law abiding people, spending their ill-gotten gains on a lifestyle that many of us can only dream of. They also cheated their customers by providing them with inadequate insurance policies.