A trio of fraudsters stole hundreds of thousands of pounds for luxury cars after claiming to be PPE suppliers at the height of the Covid pandemic.
Jogesh Bhandari, from Loughborough, launched a company in 2020 to buy and sell millions of boxes of gloves to businesses in desperate need – so he could fund ‘significant home improvements’ and his lavish lifestyle.
He was helped by Craig Morris, 43, from Lytham St Annes in Lancashire, who made representations on behalf of the company in a number of fraudulent deals in 2020 and 2021.
In one video filmed amidst the fraud, Bhandari can be seen fawning over a brand new luxury sports car he has bought with the stolen money.
Donning a pair of blue jeans and a sweatshirt, he can hardly believe his luck as he pulls off a black sheet to reveal the shiny red vehicle
Bhandari, 59, comments he ‘can’t stop smiling’ and calls the car ‘amazing’ as he opens the door to take a look inside.
Later footage filmed on a police bodyworn camera captures Bhandari’s arrest as he is seen following officers outside in handcuffs in the early hours of the morning.
The fraud began in November 2020 when Bhandari agreed a deal to provide 12 million boxes of gloves to a company.
In one video filmed amidst the fraud, Bhandari can be seen fawning over a brand new luxury sports car he has bought with the stolen money
Bhandari comments he ‘can’t stop smiling’ and calls the car ‘amazing’ as he opens the door to take a look inside
Later footage filmed on a police bodyworn camera captures Bhandari’s arrest as he is seen following officers outside in handcuffs in the early hours of the morning
He conspired with Frank Labruzzo, a US Assistant Attorney General at the Louisiana State Department of Justice, who provided a fake escrow service – where funds are supposed to remain in an account until both sides of an agreement have been met.
The defrauded company paid the escrow account but the money was immediately moved – paid to Labruzzo, Bhandari and other companies.
In a second deal a month later, Bhandari received a further $2.7million in the account and proceeded to withdraw almost $500,000 to pay off his and his wife’s debts.
Throughout the fraud he sent a number of forged documents to potential suppliers including bank statements showing up to $125million, as well as glowing references to try and convince business to trade with him.
In early 2021, he was paid more than $3.18m for an order of nitrile gloves to be delivered to US hospitals – only for them to never be delivered.
His final fraud took place in late 2021 when Bhandari persuaded a supplier he was a big player in the PPE industry and had access to hundreds of millions of dollars.
The company agreed to a deal worth $1.8bn and Labruzzo provided a fraudulent letter, stating Bhandari had deposited $35m as a security against the first delivery.
The company then paid $1.35m for the first two planned shipments.
Jogesh Bhandari (pictured), from Loughborough, launched a company in 2020 to buy and sell millions of boxes of gloves to businesses in desperate need
Payments were also made to repay a debt owed by Meena Bhandari (pictured)
Bhandari was helped by Craig Morris, 43, from Lytham St Annes in Lancashire, who made representations on behalf of the company in a number of fraudulent deals
In the final deal, Bhandari received the $1.35m straight into his business account, controlled by his wife Meenakashi (Meena) Bhandari, 58, from where he sent £200,000 to Morris and bought himself a brand-new Porsche.
More than 47,000 WhatsApp messages and emails were swapped between the defendants during the course of their criminality.
In messages Morris says: ‘All over the news is all about ppe shortage. Let’s clean up!! Milk it… fill ya boots’. Bhandari replies: ‘[thumbs up] it’s about a good teamwork and EVERYONE making money’. On another occasion, Bhandari sends an image of a Rolls Royce and tells Morris: ‘But if I want one of these [Rolls Royce] then we need to keep going’.
A total of £126,000 was spent on Bhandari’s new Porsche. Other cash was spent on a kitchen refurbishment and extensive home improvements on Bhandari’s home which he shared with Meena.
As well as paying off debts, bank records showed the Bhandaris spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on Rolexes and other luxury watches, jewellery, cars including an Audi A5, a Land Rover Discovery and a VW Golf, and worldwide luxury travel and holiday packages. None of the money was used for its intended purpose.
Payments were also made to repay a debt owed by Meena. She was also charged with money laundering after an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) showed she was aware the funds used were from Bhandari’s fraudulent activity.
Morris was due to receive regular £5000 payments from Bhandari but the two men fell out at the end of 2021 and no further cash was received.
All three defendants were arrested in February 2023 and charged with several counts of fraud by false representation and money laundering.
They appeared at Leicester Crown Court for a five-week trial and were convicted today.
Labruzzo, alongside one other person, had already been convicted in the US.
The Bhandaris and Morris are expected to be sentenced on August 21.
Paul Boniface, operations manager at the NCA, said: ‘The Covid-19 pandemic was a time of uncertainty for the world, and the increased need for PPE equipment was sudden.
‘This gave fraudsters like the Bhandaris and Morris an opportunity to target businesses and line their own pockets.
‘All of this activity occurred at the height of the pandemic where the demand for PPE went through the roof.
‘Bhandari and his co-conspirators capitalised on these vulnerabilities by exploiting people and businesses for their own financial gain, paying for lavish lifestyles of luxury cars and significant home improvements.
‘Fraud like this diverts essential equipment away from genuine organisations and the effects are far reaching, beyond immediate losses for the legitimate businesses involved.
‘The NCA will continue to target fraudsters like these who cause significant harm to the UK economy.’
