Fraudster jailed over multi-million pound PPE scam during Covid-19
An English court has jailed Craig Morris for three years and nine months for helping to defraud medical firms through fake PPE deals during the pandemic. His co-defendant Jogesh Bhandari will be sentenced later.
A man who helped to swindle medical companies out of millions of pounds by pretending he could supply personal protective equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic has been sent to prison.
The sentence
Craig Morris, 43, was handed three years and nine months on Wednesday. In July, he and 60-year-old Jogesh Bhandari were convicted at Leicester Crown Court of two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, as well as concealing and transferring criminal property.
Bhandari did not attend the hearing in Northampton. Through his counsel he said he was taking a very strong painkiller after having a pacemaker fitted last week. Judge William Harbage KC said there was no medical evidence to properly explain his absence and that a bench warrant would be issued. Sentencing is expected on 16 October.
Bhandari's wife, former pharmacist Meenakashi Bhandari, 58, was found guilty of concealing and transferring criminal property. She received a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years, plus 250 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activity.
How the scam worked
Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove told the court that Bhandari was the driving force and instigator, while Morris was very much working for him. He said the offences took place when PPE was in desperately short supply and the offenders saw a chance to profit.
The pair made fraudulent deals under a company called Banton, posing as major players in the PPE market. The court heard they defrauded the US company Med18 and the German firm MedTech by sending contracts for equipment they did not have. They had claimed they could supply millions of boxes of nitrile gloves in the US and Germany.
The money they took was used for their own benefit. They bought luxury cars, holidays, other luxury goods and a new home.
