NHS ‘fraudsters’ face charges

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged nine men with defrauding the NHS out of millions of pounds.

Criminal proceedings have now started against companies and individuals involved with pricing and supply of warfarin, Marevan and penicillin based antibiotics between January 1996 and December 2000.

Up to ?150 million is said to have been defrauded, about half the NHS budget for generic-drugs during this period. Case controller, assistant director Philip Lewis, said: “This important case involving an allegation of dishonest price fixing by companies is likely to have a significant impact upon the business culture of this country.”

Most of the drugs involved are generic drugs, which are cheaper than branded versions, but investigation into their pricing was started by the Department of Health and passed on to the SFO once the scale was known.

The individuals named are: Denis O’Neill; John Clark; Jonathan Close; Nicholas Foster; Luma Auchi; Michael Sparrow; Anil Sharma; Ajit Patel; and Kirti Patel.

All worked for the five named generic-drugs manufacturers and all deny the charges, with the Patels issuing a statement saying that what they did was neither “unlawful nor improper.”

They will be bailed following charge to attend Bow Street Magistrates Court on April 27th when the companies are also required to attend.

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