An NHS worker from Solihull has been convicted of fraud after stealing £279,000 worth of medical supplies from the hospital where he worked and selling them back to the same trust. Emmanuel Nbanga, 45, of Skye Close, Solihull, was found guilty of fraud by abuse of position and fraudulent trading at Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday, June 30.
How the fraud operated
Nbanga worked as a materials management assistant at Redditch's Alexandra Hospital. From October 2016 to September 2019, he stole equipment from operating theatre stock rooms and passed it to Ultimate Medical Ltd (UML), a firm based in Tyseley, Birmingham. UML then sold the supplies back to Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital.
The trust became suspicious of UML and launched its own investigation. Staff noticed that identification numbers on some delivered items matched those of items previously ordered and delivered to the trust, either by UML or another supplier. In total, the trust spent nearly £233,000 buying back its own stock. UML invoiced the trust for £306,000, including items sourced from China, but the health body withheld some payments due to its suspicions.
Convictions and co-defendants
Solomon Adeyemi, 57, of Cole Hall Lane, Birmingham, who ran UML, was found guilty of fraudulent trading. A third man, Remilekun Olusesi, 40, of Skye Close, Smith's Wood, Solihull, was found guilty of money laundering through the acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property. Olusesi worked as a healthcare assistant for Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.
Checks revealed that Nbanga requested UML be set up as a registered supplier to the trust and initiated all its business with the company. UML's only customer was the trust. Investigators from the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) discovered that funds paid by the trust into UML's business account were redirected to a shell company set up by Olusesi and a personal account in the names of all three defendants.
Substandard goods and patient risk
UML also supplied the Alexandra Hospital with sub-standard warm-up jackets, needle containers, and drug labels sourced from China. These items were not proven to have been stolen, but the trust could not satisfy itself of their quality and safety. They were destroyed, forcing additional spending on replacements from legitimate suppliers.
Ben Harrison, head of operations at NHSCFA, said: "Nbanga abused his trusted position to systematically steal vital medical stock and arrange for it to be sold back to the very trust he was employed by, effectively making the NHS pay twice for its own medical supplies. The involvement of multiple individuals and two shell companies shows the calculated and organised nature of this fraud. Their actions have caused significant financial impact on NHS services. This fraud also posed a direct risk to patients, as substandard and unsanitary goods entering hospital theatres could have had serious consequences for their health and safety. Every pound stolen from the NHS is a pound that cannot be spent on frontline services and the NHSCFA is committed to pursuing those responsible wherever the evidence leads."
Additional offences and sentencing
Adeyemi previously pleaded guilty to possessing or controlling identity documents with intent after using a forged Nigerian passport, a fake National Insurance number, and having card and bank statements in a false name. He used these to apply for jobs as a healthcare assistant, via an agency, at two NHS trusts. He earned almost £119,000 from those jobs, bringing the total NHS losses to £367,759.
All three defendants will be sentenced at a later date. Adeyemi and Nbanga were remanded in custody as a judge considered them a flight risk. Nbanga and Adeyemi were arrested and interviewed in September 2019, with searches carried out at their homes. They were interviewed again in March 2020, along with Olusesi.
