Marijeni produced fake documents for the money-spinning rackets, which ran simultaneously for almost four years, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
The 44-year-old former sports journalist completed a law degree at Wolverhampton University after coming to the UK in 2006 and claimed to earn £30 000-a-year from his role in a shipping business.
Marijeni who was a graphics expert, however, pocketed more cash by selling forged paperwork to others involved in the two frauds while using eight bank accounts under false names to collect at least £55 000 from bogus maternity allowance claims for himself.
He and his wife, Poula Chikuhwa, who was also part of the swindle – were building a mansion in Zimbabwe.
The 12-member gang made at least 165 fake maternity applications between May 2011 and August 2015, pocketing £450 000 but would have collected £720 000 if a considerable number had not been spotted as phony by Department of Work and Pensions officials and rejected.
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