Home / Crime and Justice / NHS Pharmacy Fraudsters Jailed for £1.3M Scam
NHS Pharmacy Fraudsters Jailed for £1.3M Scam
22 Oct
Summary
- Two men received six-year sentences for NHS prescription fraud.
- The fraud scheme involved false prescriptions totaling £1.3 million.
- Investigators are now seeking to recover the stolen NHS funds.
Jignesh Patel, a pharmacist who owned Wise Pharmacy, and his employee Rahil Patel, have been sentenced to six years imprisonment each for their involvement in an NHS prescription fraud. The extensive scheme, which spanned from January 2015 to November 2017, involved the creation of 1,639 false prescriptions. These fraudulent prescriptions led to the dispensing of 6,983 items, with an estimated reimbursement value to Wise Pharmacy exceeding £1.3 million.
The investigation, spearheaded by the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA), uncovered that the Patels obtained high-cost drugs using false prescriptions and subsequently sold them to European pharmaceutical wholesale businesses. Evidence gathered through international cooperation, including from the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium, linked the drugs to their sale by Patel's wholesale business, Actipharm Limited.
Justice Cole remarked during the sentencing at Southwark Crown Court that the fraud was committed out of greed, with both men acting as equal partners. The NHSCFA emphasized their commitment to recovering the stolen funds under the UK Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, noting that every pound stolen cannot be spent on essential frontline health services.
