Craig Morris jailed over Covid PPE fraud; Jogesh Bhandari absent, to be sentenced 16 October

Mixed · 2Craig Morris, 43, was sentenced on Wednesday 7 October to three years and nine months in prison at Northampton Crown Court for his part in a PPE fraud during the Covid-19 pandemic. 1 2 Mixed · 2Morris and Jogesh Bhandari, 60, were convicted at Leicester Crown Court in July, after a five-week trial according to the Daily Mirror, of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and of money laundering offences (the BBC describes the latter as concealing and transferring criminal property). 2 1 Mixed · 2The court heard the pair pretended they could supply millions of boxes of nitrile gloves, defrauding US company Med18 and German firm MedTech by sending contracts for equipment they did not have, under a company called Banton. 1 2

Mixed · 2Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove said Jogesh Bhandari was the "driving force and the instigator" and Morris was "very much working for" Bhandari, and that the offenders saw an opportunity to make money by fraud during a desperate shortage of PPE. 1 2 Mixed · 2The money was spent on cars, luxury goods, holidays and property; Morris bought a house and the Bhandaris also paid off family debt. The court heard Jogesh Bhandari obtained and kept £1.75 million from the fraud. 1 2 Mixed · 2Bhandari's wife, former pharmacist Meenakshi Bhandari, 58, was found guilty of money laundering, with the court hearing she laundered £960,000. She received a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years, 250 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activity. The Mirror lists Rolexes and cars including an Audi A5, a Land Rover Discovery and a £126,000 Porsche among the purchases. 1 2

Mixed · 2Jogesh Bhandari did not attend the hearing, telling their counsel they were taking a "very extreme painkiller" after having a pacemaker fitted the previous week. Judge William Harbage KC said there was "no medical evidence" to explain the absence and that a bench warrant would be issued; Bhandari is expected to be sentenced on 16 October. 1 2 Mixed · 2The National Crime Agency previously said Morris had received regular £5,000 payments from Bhandari until the two fell out at the end of 2021, and that Bhandari worked with Frank Labruzzo, who provided a fraudulent escrow service. The court heard Labruzzo and another person involved have been convicted and sentenced in the US. 1 2 Mixed · 2Judge Harbage said the pandemic was a time when "all of us had to make sacrifices and pull together", and that a few people sought to exploit it "motivated by greed", adding he was satisfied Jogesh Bhandari and Morris fell into that category. 1 2