A gang of fraudsters splashed thousands of pounds on luxury lifestyles after a sophisticated two-year bank scam worth £19m.

Fazeen Hameed, 23, from Glasgow, masterminded the con which included a pipeline of bank accounts made up as part of a "series of complicated arrangements" used to drain money from small businesses.

The cash was never recovered and the accounts were targeted in a so-called vishing scam from August 2013 to October 2015, Southwark Crown Court in London was told.

Hameed made phone calls posing as an official from a bank's fraud department and persuaded victims to reveal financial information or use card readers to authorise payments online.

He was sentenced to 11 years in jail on Wednesday for his part in the fraud and was branded "controlling" and "persuasive, authoritative to the point of bullying".

Hameed fled to Paris as the rest of the gang were arrested but was extradited to Britain for trial.

Judge Peter Testar said "no one really knows" where all the money ended up but more than £100,000 seems to have been spent in Harrods.

Hameed and colleagues from Glasgow enjoyed the use of Rolls-Royce cars and went to nightclubs on the proceeds.

In one case around £750,000 was taken from an account within seconds of the conman's cold call and a firm of solicitors who were also targeted found its account had been emptied of more than £2m.

The bogus calls would have seemed credible to the workers who answered because Hameed's gang had "corrupted" some bank employees to help with the scam, the court heard.

Information such as latest transactions and the name of the account's relationship manager gave credibility to the call.

The gang knew withdrawals of more than £100,000 would trigger a bank's fraud security alert and prosecutor Michael Shorrock QC said: "There were a number of transfers of just under £100,000."

Of the £19m that was taken, £11m was taken in the last few months, up until two days before the fraudsters were arrested.

A network of accounts, using foreign students who had left the country, was set up to ensure the money was swiftly siphoned away. The gang also created fake accounts.

The judge said: "Anyone who had heard the calls would have been struck and affected by them. There was a great deal of sophistication in the fraud.

"The people behind the fraud would have need to have an understanding of bank systems. The people involved seem to be able to take control of telephone lines of business so as to shut them out of the banks."

Nouman Chaudhary, 21, of Glasgow, was sentenced to three and a half years for conspiracy to money launder.

Judge Testar said Chaudhary "frittered money away on ephemeral junk" at Harrods and was present when £48,000 was spent at the luxury department store and also "threw himself fully into the lavish lifestyle".

The cash was spent on expensive hotels, cars and nightclubs. He also travelled first class to Dubai and Pakistan.

Abdul Iqbal, 23, of Edinburgh, was sentenced to one year and nine months for conspiracy to money launder.

Hameed treated him as a butler or servant but he got a £3500 watch from the scheme and was at Harrods when £70,000 was spent.

He accepted that £110,000 went through his account but he "threw himself happily into the task and enjoyed the life that Fazeen Hameed brought him", the judge said.

Syed Ali Amish, 24, of Luton, Bedfordshire, was sentenced to two years and eight months for also conspiring to launder money.

The judge said he played a "significant role" in the gang including recruiting others to provide bank accounts and trying to arrange accounts himself.

Mohammed Mehtab, 35, of Watford, Hertfordshire, was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to launder money. He allowed more than £9000 to go through his account.

Syed Haider, 31, of Slough, Berkshire, and Bilal Ahmed, 26, of Ilford, Greater London, are due to be sentenced later. They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder money.