Covid PPE fraudster jailed as accomplice's sentencing delayed after failing to appear in court

A man who helped orchestrate a multi-million-pound fraud involving bogus personal protective equipment deals during the Covid-19 pandemic has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.

Craig Morris, 43, was handed the sentence at Northampton Crown Court on Wednesday after being convicted of playing a key role in a scheme that fleeced medical supply companies in the United States and Germany. His co-defendant, Jogesh Bhandari, 60, was not present at the hearing and is now expected to be sentenced on 16 October, after a judge issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

The pair had been found guilty at Leicester Crown Court in July of two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, along with charges of concealing and transferring criminal property.

According to prosecutors, the fraud unfolded at a time when healthcare providers around the world were scrambling to secure protective equipment and global supply chains were under severe strain. The court heard that the defendants exploited that desperation by posing as established figures in the PPE market and claiming they could supply vast quantities of nitrile gloves to buyers in the US and Germany.

Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove told the court that Jogesh Bhandari was the "driving force and the instigator" behind the offending, while Morris, of Forest Drive in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, was "very much working for him". The fraudulent deals were carried out under a company called Banton, the court heard.

"They pretended to be big players in the PPE market. They pretended to have PPE for sale and to be able to buy vast amounts of it," Bisgrove said. The victims included US company Med18 and German firm MedTech, both of which were sent contracts for equipment that did not exist.

The court heard that the money obtained through the fraud was used to fund lavish personal spending. Jogesh Bhandari spent thousands of pounds on luxury cars, including at least one high-value Porsche, as well as holidays and property. Morris bought a house, while the Bhandari family also used the proceeds to pay off debts.

The scale of the illicit gains was set out during the hearing. The value of money Jogesh Bhandari obtained and retained over the course of the fraud was £1.75 million, while his wife, former pharmacist Meenakashi Bhandari, 58, laundered £960,000, the court was told. She was found guilty of concealing and transferring criminal property.

Meenakashi Bhandari, of Mitchell Drive, Loughborough, Leicestershire, attended Wednesday's sentencing hearing. She was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, along with 250 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activity.

The National Crime Agency previously said Morris had been receiving regular £5,000 payments from Jogesh Bhandari before the two men fell out at the end of 2021, a falling-out that appears to have marked the unravelling of their arrangement.

The court also heard details of an international dimension to the scheme. Jogesh 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. Labruzzo and another person involved in the case have already been convicted and sentenced in the United States.

The absence of Jogesh Bhandari from Wednesday's hearing prompted Judge William Harbage KC to issue a bench warrant. Jogesh had told his counsel that he was taking a "very extreme painkiller" after having a pacemaker fitted the previous week and was unable to travel to Northampton. The judge said there was "no medical evidence" to properly explain his absence.

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 forms part of a wider effort by UK authorities to pursue individuals who profited from fraudulent PPE deals during the pandemic, when government and private buyers faced intense pressure to source equipment quickly. The National Crime Agency, which led elements of the investigation, has been involved in a number of cases involving fake or non-existent supplies of masks, gloves, gowns and other protective gear.

The sentencing of Jogesh Bhandari, who is expected to appear in court next month, will bring the final chapter of the UK proceedings closer to a conclusion. His wife has already learned her fate, while Morris now begins a custodial sentence that prosecutors will likely point to as a warning to others who sought to capitalise on a global health emergency.