Former NHS assistant found guilty of £279,000 fraud

On 30 June following a trial at Worcester Crown Court, Emmanuel Nbanga, aged 45 of Skye Close, Smith’s Wood in Solihull, was found guilty of fraud by abuse of position and fraudulent trading.

Two others were also convicted for their involvement in the fraud. Also on 30 June following a trial at Worcester Crown Court, Solomon Adeyemi, aged 57 of Cole Hall Lane in Birmingham, was found guilty of fraudulent trading. Remilekun Olusesi, aged 40 of Skye Close, Smith’s Wood in Solihull, was found guilty of money laundering through the acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property.

All three individuals had previously pleaded not guilty at a hearing at Worcester Crown Court on 19 July 2021.

Nbanga was employed as a materials management assistant at the Alexandra Hospital, Redditch by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

Adeyemi was the director of a company called Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd, based in Tyseley, Birmingham. Olusesi is employed as a healthcare assistant by Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Medical supplies stolen

Between October 2016 and September 2019, Nbanga stole medical supplies from operating theatre stock rooms at the Alexandra Hospital and passed them on to Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd, who then sold the items back to the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. This meant that the NHS Trust was effectively buying back its own stock.

The NHS Trust became suspicious of Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd and decided to make its own enquiries into the company. Some of the packages delivered by Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd were opened by hospital staff prior to their delivery to hospital theatres. They noticed that identification numbers on some delivered items matched those of items that had been previously ordered and delivered to the NHS Trust, either by Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd or another supplier.

In total, the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust spent almost £233,000 buying back its own stock. Including supplied items that were sourced from China, Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd had invoiced the NHS Trust for orders totalling £306,000, but the NHS Trust had withheld some payments due to its suspicions about Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd.

Checks made by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust showed that Nbanga made the request to set up Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd as a registered supplier to the NHS Trust and also initiated all of the NHS Trust’s business with Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd. In addition, Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd’s only customer was the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

Case referral

The NHS Shared Business Service, processor of the invoices for numerous NHS Trusts including the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, confirmed that Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd was not supplying goods to any other NHS Trust within its remit.

The Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust referred the case to its local counter fraud specialist, who escalated matters to the NHSCFA’s National Investigation Service. The investigation found that funds paid by the NHS Trust into Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd’s business account were redirected to Lawyis Medical UK Ltd, a shell company set up by Olusesi, and to personal accounts established in the names of all three defendants.

Additionally, Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd supplied the Alexandra Hospital with sub-standard warm-up jackets, needle containers and drug labels sourced from China. Although these products were not stolen from the hospital, the NHS Trust determined that it could not be assured of their quality and safety for use on patients and, as such, destroyed all existing stock. This caused the NHS Trust to spend additional funds replacing the products with products sourced from other established suppliers.

Arrest and interview

Nbanga and Adeyemi were arrested and interviewed in September 2019. Searches were carried out at their home addresses and at Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd’s business address. Items identified as stolen NHS stock valued at more than £16,000 were recovered. The pair were reinterviewed in March 2020. Olusesi was also interviewed in 2020.

Adeyemi had previously pleaded guilty to possessing/controlling identity documents with intent after using a forged Nigerian passport, a forged National Insurance number card and bank statements in a false name, which he used to apply (successfully) for jobs as a healthcare assistant, via an agency, at two NHS Trusts.

He earned almost £119,000 from these two jobs, taking the full value of NHS losses to £367,759. In addition to this, by virtue of withholding payment to Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd, the NHS Trust saved itself over £43,000.

They will be sentenced at a later date. Adeyemi and Nbanga have been remanded in custody as the Judge, His Honour Judge Lockhart KC, considers them to be a flight risk.

Serious consequences 

Ben Harrison, head of operations and engagement at the NHSCFA, commented: “This case demonstrates the serious consequences that await those who seek to defraud the NHS. Nbanga abused his trusted position to systematically steal vital medical stock and arrange for it to be sold back to the very NHS Trust that employed him, 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.”

Harrison continued: “As a result of the thefts and subsequent resupply by Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd, the NHS Trust was effectively paying for stock it already owned, resulting in unnecessary costs. 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.”

In conclusion, Harrison noted: “Every pound stolen from the NHS is a pound that cannot be spent on front line services. The NHSCFA is committed to pursuing those responsible wherever the evidence leads.”

Stephen Collman, managing director of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, explained: “We cannot, and will not, tolerate theft, fraud, bribery or corruption, especially so where it deprives the NHS of funds and adversely impacts our staff and patients.”

Collman added: “This was an extensive and sustained programme of fraud, which cost the NHS hundreds of thousands of pounds, made all the worse by the fact that the fraud was carried out by NHS staff members abusing their positions of trust.”

Further, Collman said: “We thank the NHSCFA for its diligence and support in investigating this case and securing these convictions.”