Fraudsters who secured millions of pounds in contracts to supply personal protective equipment to healthcare staff during the coronavirus pandemic but spent the funds on luxury cars and home renovations have been sentenced.
The National Crime Agency investigated Jogesh Bhandari, 59, and his wife Meenakshi (Meena) Bhandari, 64, from Loughborough, and Craig Morris, 43, from Lytham St Annes in Lancashire. Jogesh Bhandari and Morris set up a company in 2020 to buy and sell nitrile gloves.
Bhandari and Morris worked with Frank Labruzzo, a US Assistant Attorney General at the Louisiana State Department of Justice, who provided a fraudulent escrow service. An escrow account is a bank account which acts as a holding point for funds that are released when both sides of an agreement have been reached.
In November 2020, Bhandari agreed a deal to provide 12 million boxes of gloves. As soon as the money was received into the escrow account, where it should have stayed until the deal was complete, it was moved and paid out to Bhandari, Labruzzo and other companies.
A month later, Bhandari received a further 2.7 million dollars into the account and almost immediately withdrew 500,000 dollars to pay off his and his wife’s debts.
In early 2021, Bhandari was paid more than 3.18 million dollars for gloves to be delivered to US hospitals. These were never received. In his final deal, the company paid 1.35 million dollars for the first two planned shipments.
The money was received straight into his business account, controlled by Meena, who sent £200,000 to Morris while Jogesh bought a new Porsche.
Morris and Bhandari shared more than 47,000 messages during their fraud. In one, Bhandari tells Morris, “I need you to help me out with a scam…you need to pose as a previous satisfied customer”. Morris replies, “I’ll do what I can to help.” In another, Morris tells Bhandari: “what was it Jerry Maguire shouted… show me the money!!!!!!!!”
In one message, Morris asks Bhandari: “Can you send me that link for the hospital you’re building in SA. I’m trying to blackmail a supplier.”
A total of £126,000 was spent on Bhandari’s new Porsche and £200,000 was sent to Morris. Other cash was spent on a kitchen refurbishment and extensive home improvements on Bhandari’s home which he shared with Meena.
As well as paying off debts owed to family and friends, bank records show that the Bhandaris spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on Rolexes and other luxury watches, expensive jewellery, a series of cars including an Audi A5, a Land Rover Discovery and a VW Golf, and worldwide luxury travel and holiday packages. None of the money was used for its intended purpose.
Payments were also made to ‘Rodi’ to repay a debt owed by Meena. She was also charged with money laundering after the NCA investigation showed she was aware the funds used were from Bhandari’s fraudulent activity.
Morris was also due to receive regular £5,000 payments from Bhandari but the two men fell out at the end of 2021 and no further cash was received.
All three defendants were arrested in February 2023 and charged with several counts of fraud by false representation and money laundering. They were convicted at Leicester Crown Court after a five week trial in July.
Jogesh Bhandari failed to appear in court on two separate occasions for sentencing, claiming health issues. The Judge ordered he was arrested on a bench warrant and he appeared yesterday (16 October) for sentencing. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Meena Bhandari and Craig Morris were sentenced on 7 October. Morris was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison and Meena Bhandari was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, with a requirement to undertake 250 hours of unpaid work.
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 style 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.”
By A.Ikechukwu
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