SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco Bay Area woman has been sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for running what prosecutors say was a sham university that served as a front for an immigration scam.

Susan Xiao-Ping Su, founder and president of the phony Tri-Valley University in Pleasanton, was also ordered during a hearing Friday to forfeit $5.6 million and pay more than $900,000 in restitution.

She was convicted in March of visa fraud and other charges. Multiple Tri-Valley employees testified that the school had no graduation and admission requirements and that Su instructed her staff to fabricate transcripts and other documents.

Federal prosecutors say Su was selling visa-related documents that allowed foreigners, mostly Indian nationals, to live and work in the U.S.