London, April 26: Two young women desperate to break into modelling careers, Jaswinder Gill offered promises of a dazzling future and lucrative contracts.

The girls were flown to India for what they thought would be bridal wear photo shoots for glossy magazines, only to discover that they were at their own weddings.

Gill married the unsuspecting brides ? whom she had targeted because they were vulnerable ? to strangers desperate for new lives in Britain, and then abandoned them.

One victim, who realised what was happening and tried to back out, was threatened with rape if she did not comply.

Yesterday, Gill?s lies caught up with her when she was jailed for 10 years for immigration offences in arranging the sham marriages.

Police believe that Gill made up to ?1 million from her ?marriage factory? over four- and-a-half years, and used the money to buy two homes and at least two luxury cars. Detectives said that they knew of 15 bogus marriages, but believed that they were the ?tip of the iceberg?.

Last month, Gill, 41, from Hayes, west London, admitted two counts of conspiring to assist unlawful entry and was found guilty of assisting illegal entry and plotting to pervert the course of justice.

Earlier, Isleworth Crown Court was told that Gill charged Indian men up to ?14,000 a time to arrange the bogus marriage to give them entry to Britain. The women were all vulnerable, and at least two were drug addicts.

Robin Johnston, prosecuting, said: ?This case is based on the systematic procuring of British brides, principally Asians, in order that foreign nationals were assisted in coming to this country or staying in this country on a permanent basis. Jaswinder Gill was the supremo in this enterprise, a manipulative and domineering woman motivated by greed.?

He said she offered young women the promise of modelling careers and took them to India for what they believed were wedding photo shoots. One was high on heroin at the time and was unaware that she had been married to a stranger.

Johnston said that later Gill abandoned the pretence of modelling contracts and cut down overheads by holding the marriages in Britain.

However, registrars became suspicious after a number of the brides ?fluffed their lines?, and Gill was arrested last year.

Johnston said the number of bogus weddings Gill organised ?must have run into scores?, with some brides taking part in more than one.

Her husband Dharshan, 40, and three other men, Fasil Rashid, Akash Khanna and Ahmed Zubair were also sentenced for their part in the racket.

Gill?s husband was jailed for six years after admitting two charges of conspiring to assist unlawful entry. Rashid, 31, of Acton, west London and Zubair, 20, of Hillingdon, west London, were jailed for four years and 12 months respectively. Khanna, 22, of Heston, received a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years.