Indian-Origin Pharmacist, Employee Jailed for Six Years in £1.3 Million NHS Fraud

An Indian-origin pharmacist and his employee have each been sentenced to six years in prison for defrauding the UK's National Health Service (NHS) of more than £1.3 million through false prescriptions for high-cost medicines.

Jignesh Patel, 46, and Rahil Patel, 42, were sentenced last week after a three-week trial at Southwark Crown Court. The two men, who are not related, were convicted of three counts of fraud by false representation and two counts of converting criminal property. "This was committed out of greed and you were equal partners in the serious fraud designed to make you a lot of money," Justice Cole said during sentencing.

According to the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA), Jignesh Patel, owner of Wise Pharmacy in north London and pharmaceutical wholesaler Actipharm Limited, dispensed medicines using prescriptions that had not been issued by the doctors named on them.

Investigators identified 1,639 false prescriptions bearing the names of 24 general practitioners (GPs). These covered 440 patients and 6,983 dispensed items between January 2015 and November 2017. The NHS paid Wise Pharmacy more than £1.3 million in reimbursements for the medicines.

The drugs included Sprycel, Noxafil, Atripla, Eviplera, Tobramycin, Truvada and Viread, which are not normally prescribed in primary care.

Investigations found that medicines obtained through the false prescriptions were subsequently sold by Actipharm to pharmaceutical wholesalers in Europe. Evidence was gathered from businesses and authorities in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Denmark.

Rahil Patel, who also served as a responsible person at Actipharm, was linked to the scheme through text messages exchanged with Jignesh Patel concerning the purchase of false prescriptions and drugs.

Jignesh Patel was arrested in December 2017, and £190,000 in cash was seized during a search of his property. NHSCFA officials said they would pursue recovery of the £1.3 million in losses under the UK's Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, stressing that funds stolen from the NHS could otherwise support frontline services.