Anyone noticed how Jacqui Smith looks more relaxed by the day. Not a huge surprise – she must be glad to be shot of the job of Home Secretary for many reasons, not least for the damning indictment of the Home Office highlighted by this case. Solicitor, Jatinder Kumar Sharma and his wife, Rakhi Shahi, are thought to have made at least £3 million from a visa scam selling fake academic certificates to clients. Sharma and Shahi, both illegal immigrants from India, earned millions over a period of several years from a visa fraud “factory” that helped an estimated 4,000 bogus students to cheat Britain’s “shambolic” border controls.

The couple were aided in their fraud by a network of sham colleges set up by the London School of E-Commerce which sold fake academic certificates to clients gaining them the right to live in Britain – many were used to obtain two-year post-study work visas. Individuals at one college are thought to have made up to £9 million supplying fake certificates and diplomas.

Money back guarantee! According to the Times , those involved were so confident of fooling immigration officials that they offered a money-back guarantee to any customer denied a visa. Revelations that Home Office officials “don’t even bother to look” at visa application documents but “just stamp them blindly” add further embarrasment to a government post that is looks less than tempting just now.