Fraudsters who carried out a personal protective equipment (PPE) scam during the Covid-19 pandemic spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on luxury cars, watches and home renovations.

Jogesh Bhandari, 59, and Craig Morris, 43, were convicted on Wednesday at Leicester Crown Court following a trial of two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation as well as concealing and transferring criminal property.

Meenakashi Bhandari, 48, was found guilty of concealing and transferring criminal property. The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the group claimed they could supply millions of boxes of nitrile gloves.

They are due to be sentenced on 21 August.

The NCA said bank records showed that Jogesh Bhandari and his wife, Meenakashi Bhandari, both of Mitchell Drive in Loughborough, Leicestershire, used the money to buy Rolexes, jewellery, holiday packages and cars.

Jogesh spent £126,000 on a new Porsche while other cash was used for a kitchen refurbishment, the NCA said.

According to the NCA, Jogesh owned and controlled a company set up in 2020 to buy and sell nitrile gloves, while Morris helped in a number of fraudulent deals in 2020 and 2021.

The agency said Jogesh supplied a number of forged documents to potential suppliers, including bank statements showing up to $125m and letters of attestation to try and persuade businesses to trade with him.

Among 47,000 WhatsApp messages between Jogesh and Morris, Morris wrote: “All over the news is all about ppe shortage. Let’s clean up!! Milk it… fill ya boots.”

The NCA said Jogesh replied: “(Thumbs up) it’s about a good teamwork and EVERYONE making money.”

In another message, Jogesh sent an image of a Rolls-Royce to Morris and said: “But if I want one of these then we need to keep going.”

Morris, of Forest Drive in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, had expected regular £5,000 payments from Jogesh before the two men fell out at the end of 2021.

The agency said Jogesh worked with Frank Labruzzo, a US assistant attorney general at the Louisiana State Department of Justice, who provided a fraudulent escrow service – a bank account which holds funds until pre-arranged conditions are met.

Jogesh’s fraud began in November 2020 when he agreed a deal to provide 12 million boxes of gloves, and the company paid into the escrow account, the agency said.

Rather than money remaining in the account until the deal was complete, the NCA said it was immediately paid to Labruzzo and Jogesh.

A month later, Jogesh received a further $2.7m into the account, and almost $500,000 was withdrawn to pay off his and his wife’s debts, the NCA said.

According to the agency, in early 2021 he was paid more than $3.18m for an order of nitrile gloves to be sent to US hospitals that were never delivered.

In his final deal, Jogesh received the $1.35m straight into his business account, before he sent £200,000 to Morris and bought himself a new Porsche.

All three defendants were arrested in February 2023, the NCA said.

Paul Boniface, operations manager at the NCA, said: “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.”

Labruzzo, alongside one other person, was convicted in the US, the NCA added.

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