Pharmacist from New Southgate among two jailed over illegal drugs sales worth £1.3m

The pair were found guilty of three counts of fraud by false representation and two counts of converting criminal property

A pharmacist from New Southgate in Barnet is one of two jailed for their role in an NHS prescription fraud worth £1.3million.

Jignesh Patel, aged 46 and of Royal Drive, as well as Rahil Patel, aged 42 and of Churston Avenue in East London, were both sentenced to six years’ imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court today (Friday 16th).

They had both been found guilty of three counts of fraud by false representation and two counts of converting criminal property, following a three-week trial at Southwark Crown Court.

Jignesh Patel is a pharmacist who owns Wise Pharmacy, in Fore Street, Angel Edmonton. He also owns a pharmaceutical wholesale business called Actipharm Limited, for which Rihal was also a responsible person at the time of the offences.

NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) investigators will now use their powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to recover the lost funds.

His Honour Judge Cole said: “This was committed out of greed and you were equal partners in the serious fraud designed to make you a lot of money.

“This was a thoroughly impressive investigation, expertly presented on all sides.”

The investigation, dating back ten years, concerned the dispensing of high-cost drugs, which are normally dispensed in a hospital environment, and payment for prescriptions originating from Barnet, Enfield, Newham, and Tower Hamlets boroughs.

Following anomalies in the expected prescribing data, NHS clinical commissioning groups in these boroughs obtained copies of the prescriptions and checked them with the named GPs. These checks identified that there was no documentation to support the patients’ clinical need for the drugs and confirmed they had not been prescribed.

Enquiries a counter fraud specialist identified seven high-cost medicines being dispensed by Wise Pharmacy which would not normally be expected in primary care. The drugs were Sprycel, Noxafil, Atripla, Eviplera, Tobramycin, Truvada and Viread.

In June 2016, an alert sent by NHS England to pharmacies in North London in 2016 highlighted the point that, due to the specialist knowledge required, it was unlikely there would be a need to dispense the identified drugs in primary care, and that pharmacists should contact the GP to confirm authenticity if presented with a prescription for them.

The NHSCFA obtained all the prescriptions dispensed by Wise Pharmacy for the period January 2015 to November 2017. Examination of these prescriptions identified 1,639 false prescriptions in the names of 24 GPs for 440 individual patients and 6,983 dispensed items. The GPs named as prescribers were interviewed and confirmed that they had not issued the prescriptions.

The reimbursement value for the drugs listed on the false prescriptions paid by the NHS to Wise Pharmacy was in excess of £1.3million.

The two medicines showing the largest losses were Noxafil (posaconazole) and Sprycel (dasatinib), used in the treatment of leukaemia. These medicines are tightly controlled and would normally only be supplied where there was a genuine and documented clinical need.

Investigators focused on these drugs due to their high value and the control of the supply.

Examination of the bank accounts of Wise Pharmacy and Actipharm Ltd identified a payment of £28,900 from an EU pharmaceutical wholesaler for Noxafil. Further enquiries identified sales of drugs, including Noxafil and Sprycel, by Actipharm to pharmaceutical wholesalers in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.

Evidence from European wholesalers was obtained through European investigation orders submitted by the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecutors in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium in November 2018.

In May 2019, NHSCFA presented the investigation and its evidential requirements to German authorities at Eurojust in The Hague. In March 2020, Danish police, assisted by NHSCFA, attended a Copenhagen wholesaler. The evidence linked drugs obtained by Wise Pharmacy through false prescriptions to their subsequent sale by Actipharm to European wholesalers.

The sale of Noxafil and Sprycel obtained using false prescriptions to the Netherlands and Germany totalled £779,405.

Following the NHS England alert, Wise Pharmacy ceased claiming reimbursement for Noxafil and Sprycel but continued obtaining the medicines using stolen NHS prescriptions. Investigators identified the amount not claimed back was £45,000 for Sprycel and £463,8881 for Noxafil.

Jignesh Patel was arrested on 6th December 2017. A search of his properties was carried out at the time of arrest, during which images of computers and mobile telephones were taken and £190,000 in cash was seized as part of the investigation.

In the UK, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) regulates the distribution of drugs and requires wholesale businesses such as Actipharm to employ a responsible person. Both Jignesh Patel and Rahil Patel were responsible persons for Actipharm Ltd.

The investigation established that Actipharm was selling Sprycel and Noxafil to other wholesale companies despite not having purchased them, meaning they could only have been obtained through Wise Pharmacy.

Ben Harrison, head of operations and engagement at NHSCFA, added: “Our expert investigation team followed the evidence, both in the UK and Europe, to bring these individuals to justice. This case demonstrates that there is no hiding place for those who seek to defraud the NHS.

“Jignesh Patel and Rahil Patel worked together for several years, obtaining drugs using false prescriptions and selling them on to European pharmaceutical wholesale businesses.

“We will actively pursue any criminals that seek to defraud the NHS of vital funds and every pound stolen from the NHS is a pound that cannot be spent on frontline services, and the NHSCFA is committed to pursuing those responsible.”

Local news needs your support

We are proud that we were at the forefront of reporting on the recent local elections. We can’t do this without the support of our readers.

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

ACT NOW!

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else. £84 annual supporters get a print copy by post and a digital copy of each month's before anyone else.