LONDON, Oct 22: An Indian origin pharmacist and his employee have each been sentenced to six years in prison in the United Kingdom for defrauding the National Health Service (NHS) of more than £1.3 million through a scheme involving fraudulent prescriptions and the illegal resale of medicines.
Jignesh Patel, 46, who owns Wise Pharmacy in north London and the pharmaceutical wholesale company Actipharm Limited, and Rahil Patel, 42, were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court following a three-week trial. The two men, who are not related, were found guilty of three counts of fraud by false representation and two counts of converting criminal property.
During the sentencing hearing last Friday, Justice Cole said the fraud had been motivated by greed and described the defendants as equal partners in a scheme designed to generate substantial profits.
The NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) said it would pursue the recovery of the stolen funds using powers available under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Ben Harrison, Head of Operations and Engagement at the NHSCFA, said the two men had worked together for several years, obtaining medicines through false prescriptions and subsequently selling them to pharmaceutical wholesale businesses in Europe.
He said investigators had followed the evidence across the UK and other European countries to establish the fraud and bring those responsible to justice. Harrison added that the authority remained committed to recovering public money lost through fraudulent activities, stressing that such funds were essential for frontline healthcare services.
The investigation began after authorities noticed unusual prescribing and dispensing patterns at Wise Pharmacy. The establishment was supplying expensive medicines that would ordinarily be prescribed and administered in hospital settings rather than through routine primary care.
NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups obtained copies of the prescriptions and contacted the general practitioners named on them. The checks revealed that the prescriptions had not been issued by the doctors and that there was no supporting clinical documentation establishing patients’ need for the medicines.
Further inquiries by a Local Counter Fraud Specialist identified seven high-cost drugs being dispensed by the pharmacy: Sprycel, Noxafil, Atripla, Eviplera, Tobramycin, Truvada and Viread.
The NHSCFA subsequently examined prescriptions dispensed by Wise Pharmacy between January 2015 and November 2017. Investigators identified 1,639 fraudulent prescriptions issued in the names of 24 general practitioners and linked to 440 individual patients. The prescriptions covered 6,983 dispensed items.
Doctors whose names appeared on the documents were interviewed and confirmed that they had not authorised the prescriptions.
According to the NHSCFA, the NHS reimbursed Wise Pharmacy more than £1.3 million for the medicines supplied against the fraudulent documents.
Investigators also traced the distribution of the drugs through Actipharm, which sold pharmaceutical products to wholesale companies in Europe. Evidence obtained from European businesses connected the medicines acquired through the fraudulent prescriptions to their subsequent resale.
The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service submitted European Investigation Orders to prosecutors in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium in November 2018 to obtain evidence relevant to the case.
In May 2019, the NHSCFA presented details of its investigation and evidential requirements to German authorities at Eurojust in The Hague. The following year, in March 2020, Danish police, assisted by the British counter-fraud authority, visited a pharmaceutical wholesaler in Copenhagen. The material gathered helped establish the link between medicines obtained through Wise Pharmacy and their onward sale by Actipharm.
Jignesh Patel was arrested on December 6, 2017. During a search of his property, investigators seized £190,000 in cash.
The investigation also examined the defendants’ responsibilities within Actipharm. Under UK regulations, pharmaceutical wholesale businesses must employ a Responsible Person to ensure that licensing conditions are followed and that appropriate records are maintained.
At the time of the offences, both Jignesh Patel and Rahil Patel served as Responsible Persons for Actipharm. The NHSCFA said they were responsible for maintaining accurate records and had knowledge of the sources of the medicines and the companies to which the products were sold.
Investigators found that Actipharm had sold Sprycel and Noxafil to other wholesale businesses despite having no records showing that it had purchased those medicines. The evidence indicated that the products had been obtained through Wise Pharmacy.
Rahil Patel was interviewed under caution on February 14, 2020. Text messages exchanged between the two defendants concerning the purchase of fraudulent prescriptions and medicines were subsequently presented as evidence during their trial.
The NHSCFA said the case demonstrated the importance of cooperation between UK investigators and European authorities in uncovering complex pharmaceutical fraud. It reiterated that it would continue pursuing those responsible and seek to recover public funds diverted from essential NHS services.