A former Mini worker has been jailed after a £5.9m fraud that paid for his extravagant lifestyle including BMW cars and buying a diving school in Mauritius.

Johannes Franken, of Fockbury Road, Dodford, Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, was sentenced today at Oxford Crown Court to five years and four months in jail after pleading guilty to six counts of fraud.

The court heard how he stole the money at the Oxford plant between 2011 and 2014.

Prosecutor Naomi Perry told a judge in Oxford Crown Court that over more than three years Franken spent large amounts of money on an "extravagant" lifestyle.

She said this included three "top of the range" BMW cars, two with personalised number plates, a BMW motorbike, £20,000 worth of jewellery, foreign holidays and even a diving school he bought during a trip to Mauritius.

She added that more than £3m still remains unaccounted for, and police confiscation proceedings are now under way in a bid to recover it.

Speaking after the hearing, investigating officer Detective Sergeant Duncan Wynn said he was satisfied by the sentence and it reflected the fact that "white collar fraud is not a victimless crime".

Franken made false representations, altering supplier invoices and payments so that monies were diverted to his account. He made 59 separate transactions; the largest was more than £278,000.  

Investigating officer Det Sgt Duncan Wynn, from the Economic Crime Unit, said: “I hope this sentence will act as a deterrent and show that crime does not pay.

"Franken systematically abused his position of trust with his employer to steal large sums of money which he spent on a lavish lifestyle including over £200,000 on vehicles, the purchase of a dive school in Mauritius and other foreign based properties.

“So far assets and monies totaling £2.5m have been located and restrained under the Proceeds of Crime Act. We are currently actively pursuing the outstanding amounts. Part of the role of the Economic Crime Unit is to deploy all available options to remove the assets gained through criminality.”

Angela Stangroom, spokeswoman for BMW Group, said: "We are aware of the court’s decision today and are continuing to work with the authorities to recover assets where possible.

"The fraudulent activity was discovered by the company’s financial control mechanisms.

"These have been reviewed and new procedures implemented to ensure that the company cannot be defrauded in a similar way in the future."