A husband and wife team from Finchley were sentenced to more than five years' imprisonment last week for running the UK's largest ever music fraud.

The multi-million pound scam by Naveed Shaikh, 38, and his wife Farhat Nissa, 35, of Amberden Avenue, was uncovered by police following a year-long investigation into CD copyright theft, and piracy of legitimate music.

Information supplied by the music industry and trade organisations led police officers to Woolwich market in October 2005 where they found Nadim Mir, 37, and Ayaz Javed Qureshi, 38, both from Ilford, selling pirate CDs.

Around 2,000 discs were seized and police later arrested Nadim's twin, Wasim Mir, 37, also from Ilford. Officers went on to find 35,000 illegal CDs in an east London warehouse.

The value of discs seized was around £400,000. The music industry calculated its loss at around £5 million.

Police later searched addresses in Hertfordshire and north London and seized more counterfeit music along with manufacturing equipment.

Shaikh was arrested, and his wife went voluntarily to a police station where she was also arrested.

The couple were convicted at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, March 7, of conspiracy to defraud, and both Qureshi and Wasim Mir pleaded guilty in 2006 to fraud, which took place between May 21, 2003, and December 22, 2005.

No evidence was offered against Nadim Mir and the charge was dropped.

Nissa was sentenced on April 2 to four years and six months imprisonment. Her husband Shaikh was jailed for 12 months.

Mir, a market trader, was sentenced to two years and six months, and Qureshi will be sentenced today.