London, Jul 23: An Indian-origin couple has been convicted in the United Kingdom for orchestrating a multi-million dollar fraud involving personal protective equipment (PPE) during the COVID-19 pandemic and laundering the proceeds to fund a lavish lifestyle.
Jogesh Bhandari (59) and his wife, Meenakashi (Meena) Bhandari (58), were found guilty on multiple counts of fraud and money laundering following a five-week trial at Leicester Crown Court. Craig Morris (43), who represented their company in several fraudulent deals during 2020 and 2021, was also convicted. The trio will be sentenced on August 21.
According to the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), the accused exploited the unprecedented demand for PPE during the pandemic by falsely claiming they could supply millions of nitrile gloves to buyers in the UK and the United States.
“The COVID-19 pandemic created an urgent demand for PPE, and the offenders exploited that situation for personal financial gain,” said Paul Boniface, Operations Manager at the NCA.
Investigators found that instead of supplying the promised equipment, the group diverted millions of dollars received from victims into personal accounts. The money was allegedly used to pay off debts, renovate their home, and purchase luxury items, including a Porsche, Rolex watches, jewellery, and high-end vehicles such as an Audi A5, Land Rover Discovery and Volkswagen Golf. They also spent heavily on luxury holidays.
The NCA said Bhandari controlled a company established in 2020 to trade nitrile gloves and worked with Frank Labruzzo, a former Assistant Attorney General in Louisiana, US, who provided a fraudulent escrow service to make the deals appear legitimate.
In one of the first fraudulent transactions in November 2020, a company transferred funds for an order of 12 million boxes of gloves. Instead of remaining in escrow until the order was fulfilled, the money was immediately distributed among Bhandari, Labruzzo and other entities.
A month later, another company transferred USD 2.7 million, from which nearly USD 500,000 was used to clear the couple’s personal debts. Investigators also found that Bhandari used forged bank statements and fabricated financial documents to convince suppliers he had access to over USD 125 million.
In early 2021, he received more than USD 3.18 million for gloves intended for hospitals in the United States, but the shipment was never delivered.
The final major fraud occurred later that year when Bhandari secured a proposed USD 1.8 billion PPE agreement by falsely claiming access to hundreds of millions of dollars. Victims paid USD 1.35 million for the initial shipments, which were never supplied.
The NCA said those funds were transferred into a business account controlled by Meena Bhandari and were used to purchase a Porsche and finance extensive home renovations instead of fulfilling the contract.
Calling the fraud “far-reaching,” the NCA said such crimes diverted essential medical equipment away from genuine organisations during one of the most critical periods of the pandemic.
Frank Labruzzo and another accused have already been convicted in the United States in connection with the same fraud scheme.
