(Nigerian Couple and Accomplice. Photo by Northern Magazine)
A Nigerian husband and wife, alongside an accomplice, have been convicted in the United Kingdom over a £279,000 fr@ud scheme that involved stealing medical supplies from the National Health Service and selling them back to the same hospital trust.
The main defendant, Emmanuel Nbanga, 45, of Solihull, was found guilty at Worcester Crown Court of fr@ud by ab¥se of position and fr@udulent trading following a jury trial.
According to the NHS Counter Fraud Authority, Nbanga worked as a materials management assistant at Alexandra Hospital, Redditch, under the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
Between October 2016 and September 2019, he stole medical equipment from operating theatre stock rooms and passed the items to Solomon Adeyemi, 57, director of Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd, based in Tyseley, Birmingham.
Prosecutors said the company then sold the stolen equipment back to the same NHS trust, with some items allegedly resold three or four times over, resulting in losses of about £279,000.
The scheme came to light after the trust launched a tender process and noticed the company was offering unusually low prices.
Further checks revealed that identification numbers on newly delivered medical supplies matched items the trust had previously purchased.
Investigators also discovered that money paid by the trust into the company’s account was transferred to Lawyis Medical UK Ltd, a shell company established by Remilekun Olusesi, 40, Nbanga’s wife.
She was subsequently convicted of money laundering through the acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property.
Adeyemi was also found guilty of fr@udulent trading.
Reacting to the convictions, NHSCFA investigator Dave Horsley described the case as particularly disturbing, given that the stolen supplies were meant for patient operations.
