Since being refused asylum in 2001, Albanians Vojsava Stena, aged 27, and her husband Altin Fusha, aged 32, moved thousands of pounds to foreign bank accounts to buy property and also snapped up a luxury BMW car while paying almost nothing in tax.

The pair funded their criminal lifestyle through Stena's job as an interpreter for the county council and Fusha's work as a runner for a local property firm.

Birmingham Crown Court heard how Stena had earned nearly £30,000 over five years and claimed £20,000 in working and child tax benefits.

They were both handed nine-month suspended sentences and an order to be deported after pleading guilty to several counts of converting criminal possessions by deception, concealing criminal property, and money laundering.

Stena and Fusha first arrived in Britain from Kosovo in the late 1990s and set up home in Northampton, but even though they were not allowed to work or claim benefits the couple continued to dupe the authorities.

They were even the centrepiece of a Chronicle & Echo feature story on asylum seekers in February 2003 in which they expressed their desire to stay in the UK for a long time and raise children here.

But in reality Stena and Fusha were earning thousands in wages and benefits without paying tax, which they transferred in large amounts to bank accounts in their native Albania.

Police finally uncovered their ill-gotten gains in March 2007 and immediately froze their assets, including a bank account in Ireland holding more than £30,000.

The pair, who lived in Masefield Way, Kingsthorpe, sat apart behind a screen in court as Judge Robert Brown handed down their sentences.

He said: "This is a very serious case and I am quite satisfied that it warrants a prison sentence.

"To claim tax credits to which you have no entitlement to such an extent is a very serious crime indeed. You have been working illegally together knowing you did not have the right to do so in this country."

He added: "I will be recommending to the minister that you both be put up for deportation."

A spokesman for Northamptonshire County Council said: "All county council employees are required to provide proof of their eligibility to work in the UK.

"In this case, all the correct HR procedures were followed, and documents showing a Home Office stamp were presented by Vojstana Stena as evidence of her right to work and were accepted in good faith.

"It now appears that these documents could have been fraudulent."