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 shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) 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 conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, along with 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 tricked medical supply companies in the United States and Germany into handing over millions of pounds for equipment that never existed. The court heard the fraud was carried out under the guise of a company called Banton, with the perpetrators presenting themselves as major operators in the global PPE market.

Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove told the sentencing hearing that Jogesh Bhandari, 60, was the "driving force and the instigator" of the offending, while Morris was "very much working for him." Bhandari, of Mitchell Drive, Loughborough, Leicestershire, is expected to be sentenced on 16 October after failing to attend Wednesday's hearing. His wife, former pharmacist Meenakashi Bhandari, 58, was present and received a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years, along with 250 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activity.

The court heard that the crimes took place at a time when there was a severe shortage of protective equipment, with healthcare systems worldwide scrambling to secure supplies. Bisgrove said the offenders "saw the opportunity to make money by fraud" amid the crisis. They sent contracts to US company Med18 and German firm MedTech for equipment they did not possess, purporting to be able to supply millions of boxes of nitrile gloves.

The scheme generated substantial illicit proceeds. The court heard that the value of money Jogesh Bhandari obtained and retained through the fraud was £1.75 million, while Meenakashi Bhandari laundered approximately £960,000. Morris had been receiving regular payments of £5,000 from Bhandari before the two men fell out at the end of 2021, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The proceeds were used to fund lavish lifestyles, with the court hearing that the offenders bought luxury cars, holidays, and a new home. Jogesh Bhandari spent thousands of pounds on high-end vehicles, while Morris purchased a house. The Bhandaris also used the money to pay off family debt. Images released by the NCA showed Bhandari alongside a red Porsche, underlining the scale of the wealth generated from the fraudulent deals.

Judge William Harbage KC, who presided over the sentencing, said the pandemic was 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 court also heard that Jogesh Bhandari had told his counsel he was taking a "very extreme painkiller" after having a pacemaker fitted the previous week, rendering him unable to travel to Northampton for the hearing. Judge Harbage said there was "no medical evidence" to properly explain his absence and confirmed that a bench warrant would be issued. This means Bhandari faces arrest and will be brought before the court for sentencing next month.

The NCA previously revealed that Jogesh Bhandari had worked with Frank Labruzzo, an attorney in the Louisiana Attorney General's Office in the United States, who provided a fraudulent escrow service — a bank account designed to hold funds until pre-arranged conditions are met. Labruzzo and another individual involved in the scheme have already been convicted and sentenced in the US, demonstrating the transatlantic reach of the operation.

The case forms part of a broader pattern of Covid-era fraud that exploited the unprecedented global demand for medical supplies. During the pandemic, governments and healthcare providers worldwide competed to secure PPE, often turning to intermediaries and newly formed companies when traditional supply chains were overwhelmed. Criminal networks seized on this chaos, using fake contracts and false promises to extract advance payments from legitimate buyers who were desperate to protect frontline workers.

The NCA has previously stated that the pair "pretended to be big players in the PPE market" and "pretended to have PPE for sale and to be able to buy vast amounts of it." The sophistication of the deception, including the involvement of a corrupt US attorney, highlights how organised fraudsters adapted their methods to capitalise on the global health emergency.

Judge Harbage's comments underscore the moral dimension of the offences, committed at a time of national and international crisis when millions of people were making personal sacrifices. The sentencing of Morris and Meenakashi Bhandari sends a clear message that those who sought to profit from the pandemic's chaos through deception will face serious consequences.

The NCA's investigation continues into the wider network involved, with Jogesh Bhandari still to be sentenced and international authorities having already secured convictions in the US. The case serves as a reminder of the scale of fraud that emerged during the pandemic's PPE shortages, as well as the efforts by law enforcement agencies on both sides of the Atlantic to bring those responsible to justice.