A Pakistani couple was convicted of committing benefit fraud in the United Kingdom from 2012 to 2016.

Syed Zaidi, 41, and his wife, Rizwana Kamal, reportedly claimed about £40,000 per year in benefits after seeking asylum in UK.

The couple confessed to their crime before Manchester Judge Bernard Lever at Minshull Street Crown Court.

The two had claimed that they were being persecuted in Pakistan and urged the Home Office to provide them with shelter.

During the four years, the couple claimed benefits of asylum seekers, child tax and working tax credits, and child benefits for their three children, along with free accommodation despite having £250,000 in their bank accounts.

The couple owned two cars and lived in a house with a Victorian terrace in Denton, near Manchester.

The two were caught because of tip-off received by UK’s Home Office.

Husband and wife have been sentenced to 10 months imprisonment but they will be jailed six months apart so their children are not taken care at further expense to taxpayers.