An NHS worker has been convicted of stealing nearly £300,000 worth of medical equipment from the health service and then selling it back to the same hospital trust up to four times. Emmanuel Nbanga, 46, worked at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust in Kidderminster and carried out the fraud over two years between October 2017 and September 2019.
How the fraud was carried out
Nbanga took vital medical supplies from operating theatre stock rooms and delivered them to Solomon Adeyemi, 58, the director of a Birmingham-based company called Ultimate Medical (UML). The company then repackaged and sold the items back to the trust, sometimes as many as four times. This meant the NHS was unknowingly buying back its own stock, causing significant financial loss.
The fraud was uncovered by the NHS Counter Fraud Authority when a tendering process for medical supplies revealed that UML was selling items at unusually low prices. Investigators then noticed that identification numbers on some delivered items matched those of previously ordered stock.
Convictions and sentencing
Nbanga was found guilty at Worcester Crown Court of fraud and fraudulent trading. He had earlier pleaded guilty to being in possession of false identity documents. His wife, Remilekun Olusesi, 40, was convicted of a money laundering related offence, and Adeyemi was convicted of fraudulent trading.
Dave Horsley of the NHS Counter Fraud Authority said: “Sick people also suffered with the stolen stock needed for operations on patients.” He added that suspicion grew when the trust launched a tendering process and noticed UML's low prices.
Impact on the NHS and patients
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 is made all the worse by the fact that it was carried out by NHS staff members abusing their positions of trust.”
Gayle Ramsay, Specialist Prosecutor of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Nbanga held a position of responsibility and trust to help ensure that vital supplies for medical operations were there to support staff and patients. Nbanga abused this trust and stole hard pressed taxpayer money for selfish and greedy purposes. He was supported in this public sector scam by Adeyemi and Olusessi.”
The CPS said they are committed to working with law enforcement to bring public sector fraudsters to justice.
