BRITAIN’S most prolific female fraudster has been released from prison — despite paying back just ￡354,000 of a ￡15million mortgage scam.

       Maria Michaela, 42, was jailed for nine years in 2012 after she conned high street banks using over a dozen false identities and fake documents.

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       Maria Michaela was jailed for nine years in 2012 after she conned high street banks using over a dozen false identities and fake documents

       But figures obtained by The Sun on Sunday via a Freedom of Information request show Michaela and her accomplices paid back less than ￡1.4million in total — despite all being released from jail.

       David Spencer, of the Centre for Crime Prevention, called for reform to ensure offenders “remain behind bars until all the proceeds of their crimes have been recovered”.

       He said: "Yet again, we see serious criminals who made millions through their crooked schemes paying back just a fraction of their ill-gotten gains.

       “It is wrong that convicted criminals should be able to benefit from the proceeds of their crime but time and again we see the CPS settling for a fraction of the true amount stolen.

       “The system is long overdue for reform and must be strengthened to ensure that serious offenders like Maria Michaela remain behind bars until all the proceeds of their crimes have been recovered."

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       A Home Office spokeswoman, said: “Our priority is to protect the British public and we make no apology for seeking to remove dangerous criminals who violate our laws and abuse our hospitality.

       “Each week we remove foreign criminals from the UK to different countries who have no right to be here, and since January 2019 we have removed over 7,985 foreign national offenders.”

       The Home Office would not say if Michaela, from Mauritius, was deported.