A fraudster who pocketed millions of pounds before blowing the cash on a £126,000 Porsche, Rolex watches and luxury holidays has been jailed for eight years.
Jogesh Bhandari, 59, used the proceeds of a multi-million-pound scam to fund a lavish lifestyle, including expensive jewellery, a fleet of cars and a major renovation of his home.
His wife Meena Bhandari, 64, helped handle the money, while accomplice Craig Morris, 43, received £200,000 from the operation.
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Bhandari, from Loughborough, Leics, was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on Friday (16 Oct), after failing to attend court on two previous occasions, claiming health issues.
The judge described him as the driving force behind the fraud, as reported by Need To Know.
Bhandari and Morris, from Lytham St Annes, Lancs, set up a company in 2020 and went on to secure lucrative deals with firms in the US and Germany.
But the promised goods never arrived, and millions of dollars paid by their customers were diverted elsewhere.
In November 2020, Bhandari agreed to a deal to supply 12 million boxes of gloves.
The money was paid into an escrow account, which should have held the funds until the deal was completed. Instead, it was transferred to Bhandari, Frank Labruzzo and other companies.
Labruzzo, an assistant attorney general in Louisiana, had provided the fraudulent escrow service.
In early 2021, Bhandari received more than $3.18m for goods intended for US hospitals, but the order was never delivered.
A further deal saw $1.35m paid for the first two planned shipments, with the money landing directly in a business account controlled by his wife.
Meena transferred £200,000 to Morris, while Bhandari bought his Porsche.
Bank records showed the couple also spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on Rolexes and other luxury watches, jewellery, an Audi A5, a Land Rover Discovery and a VW Golf.
They also splashed out on worldwide luxury travel, paid off debts owed to family and friends, and spent heavily on a kitchen refurbishment and other improvements to their home.
Investigators from the National Crime Agency uncovered more than 47,000 messages exchanged between Bhandari and Morris during the fraud.
In one exchange, Bhandari wrote: “I need you to help me out with a scam…you need to pose as a previous satisfied customer.”
Morris replied: “I’ll do what I can to help.”
In another message, Morris wrote: “All over the news is all about ppe shortage. Let’s clean up!! Milk it… fill ya boots.”
Bhandari responded: “It’s about a good teamwork and EVERYONE making money.”
He also sent Morris a picture of a Rolls-Royce, adding: “But if I want one of these then we need to keep going.”
Bhandari and Morris were convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and concealing and transferring criminal property at Leicester Crown Court in July, following a five-week trial.
Meena was found guilty of concealing and transferring criminal property after investigators established she knew the funds came from her husband’s fraudulent activity.
Morris was jailed for three years and nine months on October 7.
Meena received a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activity.
Sentencing Bhandari, Judge William Harbage KC described him as the “directing mind” behind Banton, the company used to carry out the fraudulent deals.
The judge said Bhandari’s expression of remorse in a letter was “difficult to accept given how vigorously you contested these charges”.
His barrister, Dominic Bardill, told the court Bhandari had attempted to take his own life after being convicted and was facing divorce proceedings.
He said his client had lost everything, describing the offending as a mixture of greed and terrible decision-making.
The fraud involved contracts to supply millions of boxes of nitrile gloves during the Covid-19 pandemic, when healthcare providers were urgently seeking protective equipment.
Paul Boniface, operations manager at the National Crime Agency, said the defendants had exploited legitimate businesses while facilities were left without vital supplies.
He said: “While Bhandari was picking up his brand new luxury car and talking about how he couldn’t stop smiling, healthcare facilities had not received the vital PPE they needed at a time when demand was exponential and companies were millions of dollars out of pocket.
“These sentences recognise that their selfish actions caused far-reaching effects, far beyond the immediate losses for the legitimate businesses involved.
“The NCA will continue to target fraudsters like these who cause significant harm to the UK economy.”
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