UK Fraudster Jailed for £1.75m PPE Scam That Funded Luxury Cars and Property During Covid

A man who helped orchestrate a multi-million pound fraud exploiting the desperate scramble for personal protective equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic has been jailed for three years and nine months.

Craig Morris, 43, was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on Wednesday after being convicted of two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, along with offences of concealing and transferring criminal property.

Morris, of Forest Drive in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, was one of three people convicted at Leicester Crown Court in July over a scheme that fleeced medical supply companies in the United States and Germany out of millions of pounds.

The court heard that Morris and his co-defendant Jogesh Bhandari, 60, posed as major players in the PPE market, claiming they could supply millions of boxes of nitrile gloves to buyers who were frantically trying to source protective equipment as the pandemic took hold.

Prosecutors said the pair sent contracts for equipment they did not possess, deceiving US company Med18 and German firm MedTech into handing over large sums of money.

Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove told the court that Bhandari was the "driving force and the instigator" of the offending, while Morris was "very much working for him."

He said the offences occurred at a time when there was a critical shortage of protective equipment, and that the defendants saw in that shortage an opportunity to enrich themselves through fraud.

Operating under a company called Banton, the pair presented themselves as legitimate suppliers capable of handling vast orders. In reality, they had no equipment to sell.

The court heard that millions of pounds were taken during the fraud and used for personal benefit, including the purchase of cars, luxury goods and property.

Bhandari spent thousands of pounds on high-end vehicles, including a red Porsche, while Morris bought a house with the proceeds of the scam. The Bhandaris also used the money to pay off family debts, according to evidence presented to the court.

The value of money Bhandari obtained and retained through the fraud was £1.75 million, while his wife, former pharmacist Meenakashi Bhandari, 58, laundered £960,000, the court was told.

Meenakashi Bhandari, of Mitchell Drive, Loughborough, Leicestershire, was found guilty of concealing and transferring criminal property. She was handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, along with 250 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activity.

Her husband, who also lives at Mitchell Drive, was due to be sentenced alongside Morris but failed to attend the hearing. His counsel told the court he was taking a "very extreme painkiller" after having a pacemaker fitted last week and was unable to travel to Northampton.

Judge William Harbage KC said there was "no medical evidence" to properly explain Jogesh Bhandari's absence and ordered that a bench warrant be issued. He is expected to be sentenced on 16 October.

The National Crime Agency previously revealed that Morris had been receiving regular £5,000 payments from Bhandari before the two men fell out at the end of 2021.

The NCA also said Bhandari worked with Frank Labruzzo, an attorney in the Louisiana Attorney General's Office, who provided a fraudulent escrow service — a bank account designed to hold funds until pre-arranged conditions are met. The court heard that Labruzzo and another person involved in the scheme have already been convicted and sentenced in the United States.

In sentencing Morris and Meenakashi Bhandari, Judge Harbage reflected on the broader context of the pandemic, describing it as a period when "all of us had to make sacrifices and pull together for the good of society as a whole."

He added: "There were a few people though who sought to exploit that to make money for themselves, motivated by greed. I'm satisfied Jogesh Bhandari and Craig Morris fall into that category."

The case is one of a number of prosecutions brought in the UK arising from fraudulent PPE deals struck during the pandemic, when global supply chains were strained and governments and healthcare providers were competing for scarce equipment. The shortage created fertile ground for criminals who exploited the urgency and large sums of public and private money circulating in the market.

The National Crime Agency has continued to pursue cases linked to Covid-era fraud, working with international partners to trace funds and identify those involved. The convictions in this case followed a complex investigation spanning multiple jurisdictions, including the US, where associates of the UK-based operation have already faced justice.

Morris will now serve his sentence in prison, while Jogesh Bhandari awaits his fate at a hearing scheduled for next month. Meenakashi Bhandari will remain in the community under the terms of her suspended sentence, carrying out unpaid work and attending rehabilitation sessions.

The sentencing serves as a reminder of the scale of Covid-related fraud and the determination of law enforcement agencies to bring those responsible to account, even years after the initial offences were committed.