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A group of fraudsters who secured millions of pounds in PPE contracts have been jailed for spending the money on luxury cars and jewellery.
Jogesh and Meenakshi (Meena) Bhandari set up a company during the Covid pandemic to purchase and sell nitrile gloves for use in hospitals.
The husband and wife, along with Craig Morris, 43, received more than £5million after offering to supply 12 million boxes of gloves to both British and American hospitals.
Their sham firm was set up with the help of Frank Labruzzo, a US Assistant Attorney General in Louisiana, who provided them with a fake account to hold the funds, which should have been used to buy the goods.
Jogesh, 59, immediately pocketed more than £300,000 to pay off his debts, before splashing out £126,000 on a new Porsche, while Morris claimed £200,000.
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A probe found that instead of using the funds for PPE supplies, the Bhandaris spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on Rolex watches, luxury jewellery and several cars, including an Audi A5, a Land Rover Discovery and a VW Golf.
They also used the money to refurbish their home and pay for a kitchen renovation, as well as for luxury holidays abroad.
Analysis of 47,000 messages exchanged between Morris and the Bhandaris showed Morris promising ‘I’ll do what I can to help’ when asked by Jogesh to pose as a ‘previous satisfied customer’ for his self-described scam.
‘What was it Jerry Maguire shouted… show me the money!!!!!!!!’,he wrote to Jogesh.
In another message, Morris asked Jogesh: ‘Can you send me that link for the hospital you’re building in SA. I’m trying to blackmail a supplier.’ The sentence was followed by a laughing emoji.
Morris had agreed to a deal to receive regular £5,000 payments for his part in the scam; however, he never pocketed further cash beyond 2021 after his relationship with the couple broke down.
The trio were charged on several counts of false representation and money laundering after being arrested in February 2023.
Jogesh Bhandari failed to show up for court proceedings on two occasions, claiming he had health issues.
He was sentenced to eight years behind bars on Friday after being taken to court on a bench arrest warrant.
His wife, Meena, was handed a sentence of two years in prison, suspended for two years, as well as a requirement to complete 250 hours of unpaid work.
Morris was given three years and nine months in prison for his role in the scheme.
Paul Boniface, operations manager at the National Crime Agency, said: ‘These defendants took an opportunity to target legitimate businesses and line their own pockets for a lavish lifestyle during a pandemic that caused uncertainty around the world.
‘While Bhandari was picking up his brand-new luxury car and talking about how he couldn’t stop smiling, healthcare facilities had not received the vital PPE they needed at a time when demand was exponential, and companies were millions of dollars out of pocket.
‘These sentences recognise that their selfish actions caused far-reaching effects, far beyond the immediate losses for the legitimate businesses involved.
‘The NCA will continue to target fraudsters like these who cause significant harm to the UK economy.’
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