NHS Fraud: Stolen Medical Equipment Sold Back to Trust
A former NHS employee, Emmanuel Nbanga, his Nigerian wife Remilekun Olusesi, and Nigerian businessman Solomon Adeyemi have been found guilty in the United Kingdom of defrauding the NHS out of £279,000. The scheme involved stealing medical equipment from the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and selling it back to the same trust, sometimes multiple times.
Nbanga, 45, originally from Sierra Leone but raised in Nigeria before migrating to the UK, worked as a materials management assistant at Alexandra Hospital in Redditch. Between October 2016 and September 2019, he stole medical supplies from operating theatre stock rooms and passed them to Adeyemi, director of Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd (UML) based in Tyseley, Birmingham. The company then sold the items back to the trust, effectively repurchasing its own stock, sometimes three or four times.
Discovery and Investigation
Dave Horsley from the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) stated that the trust became suspicious during a tendering process when UML offered unusually low prices. Further investigation revealed that identification numbers on delivered items matched those of previously ordered stock. The trust also found that some supplied items were not fit for purpose, posing a risk to patient safety.
Horsley remarked: “The more they looked the more it unravelled.” He described the case as shocking, especially since the stock was intended for operations on patients.
Financial Trail and Convictions
Funds paid by the trust into UML’s business account were redirected to Lawyis Medical UK Ltd, a shell company set up by Olusesi, and to personal accounts of all three defendants. Nbanga was convicted of fraud by abuse of position and fraudulent trading. Olusesi, 40, of Skye Close, Smith’s Wood, Solihull, was found guilty of money laundering. Adeyemi, 57, of Cole Hall Lane, Birmingham, was convicted of fraudulent trading.
Stephen Collman, managing director of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “This was an extensive and sustained programme of fraud which cost the NHS hundreds of thousands of pounds. It was made all the worse by the fact that it was carried out by NHS staff members abusing their positions of trust.”
Impact and Sentencing
Horsley emphasized that beyond the financial impact, such cases compromise public trust in the NHS. The three defendants will be sentenced at a later date. Both Adeyemi and Nbanga were remanded in custody as the judge considered them flight risks.
