Pharmacist jailed in wake of £1.3 million NHS prescription fraud

Jignesh Patel owns Wise Pharmacy, located at 93 Fore Street in London’s Edmonton. He also owns a pharmaceutical wholesale business by the name of Actipharm Limited.

An investigation conducted by official from the National Health Service Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) concerned the dispensing of high-cost drugs, which are normally dispensed in a hospital environment, and payment for prescriptions originating from four NHS Clinical Commissioning Group areas (specifically Barnet, Enfield, Newham and Tower Hamlets).

Following anomalies in the expected prescribing data, the Clinical Commissioning Groups obtained copies of the prescriptions and checked them with the named GPs. These checks identified that there was no documentation to support the patients’ clinical need for the drugs and there was confirmation that they had not been prescribed.

Enquiries made by the Local Counter Fraud Specialist identified seven high-cost medicines being dispensed by Wise Pharmacy which would not normally be expected in primary care. The drugs were Sprycel, Noxafil, Atripla, Eviplera, Tobramycin, Truvada and Viread.

In June 2016, an alert sent by NHS England to pharmacies in North London highlighted the point that, due to the specialist knowledge required, it was unlikely there would be a need to dispense the identified drugs in primary care. It was also noted that pharmacists should contact GPs to confirm authenticity if presented with a prescription for them.

The NHSCFA obtained all of the prescriptions dispensed by Wise Pharmacy for the period January 2015 to November 2017. An examination of these prescriptions identified 1,639 false prescriptions in the names of 24 GPs for 440 individual patients and 6,983 dispensed items. The GPs named as prescribers were interviewed and confirmed that they had not issued the prescriptions.

The reimbursement value for the drugs listed on the false prescriptions paid by the NHS to Wise Pharmacy was in excess of £1.3 million.

Largest losses 

The two medicines showing the largest losses were Noxafil (posaconazole) and Sprycel (dasatinib), both of which are used in the treatment of leukaemia. These medicines are tightly controlled and would normally only be supplied where there was a genuine and documented clinical need for them. Investigators focused on these drugs due to their high value and the control of the supply.

Examination of the bank accounts of Wise Pharmacy and Actipharm Limited identified a payment of £28,900 from European Union pharmaceutical wholesaler for Noxafil. Further enquiries identified sales of drugs (including Noxafil and Sprycel) by Actipharm Limited to pharmaceutical wholesalers in Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.

Evidence from European wholesalers was obtained through European Investigation Orders submitted by the Crown Prosecution Service in November 2018 to prosecutors in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

In May 2019, the NHSCFA presented the investigation and its evidential requirements to German authorities at Eurojust in The Hague. In March 2020, Danish police (assisted by the NHSCFA) attended a Copenhagen wholesaler. The evidence linked drugs obtained by Wise Pharmacy through false prescriptions to their subsequent sale by Actipharm Limited to European wholesalers.

The sale of Noxafil and Sprycel obtained using false prescriptions to the Netherlands and Germany totalled the sum of £779,405.

Following the NHS England alert, Wise Pharmacy ceased claiming reimbursement for Noxafil and Sprycel, but continued obtaining the medicines using stolen NHS prescriptions. Investigators identified the amount not claimed back was £45,000 for Sprycel and £463,8881 for Noxafil.

Initial arrest

Jignesh Patel was arrested on 6 December 2017 and interviewed under caution. He gave a ‘No comment’-style interview. A subsequent search of his properties was carried out at the time of the arrest, during which images of computers and mobile telephones were taken and £190,000 in cash was seized as part of the investigation process.

In the UK, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency regulates the distribution of drugs and requires wholesale businesses such as Actipharm Limited to employ a ‘Responsible Person’ (ie someone who’s responsible for ensuring that the conditions under which a licence was granted have been, and are being, complied with at all times).

At the time of these offences, the ‘Responsible Persons’ for Actipharm Limited were Jignesh Patel and Rahil Patel. As ‘Responsible Persons’ for Actipharm Limited, they were responsible for accurate record-keeping and had knowledge of where the pharmaceutical drugs were obtained from and which companies they were sold to. The investigation established that Actipharm Limited was selling Sprycel and Noxafil to other wholesale companies despite not having purchased them, in turn meaning that they could only have been obtained through Wise Pharmacy.

Rahil Patel (aged 42 of 11 Churston Avenue, London E13) was interviewed under caution on 14 February 2020. He answered ‘No comment’ to all questions put to him during the interview.

A number of text messages between Jignesh Patel and Rahil Patel regarding the purchase of false prescriptions and drugs were found and formed part of the evidence at trial. These included: “Drop the Nox to the warehouse today”, “U WANT MORE Sprycel N NOXA let me know asap”, “Get me the scripts from the script guys” and “I got scripts”.

On 16 October at Southwark Crown Court, Rahil Patel was also sentenced to six years’ imprisonment having also been found guilty of three counts of fraud by false representation and two counts of converting criminal property on 6 October.

Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

NHSCFA investigators will now use their powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 to recover the lost funds.

On sentencing, His Honour Judge Cole said: “This was committed out of greed and you were equal partners in the serious fraud designed to make you a lot of money. This was a thoroughly impressive investigation, with the evidence obtained expertly presented on all sides.”

Ben Harrison, head of operations and engagement at the NHSCFA, explained: “Our expert investigation team members followed the evidence, both here in the UK and Europe, to bring these individuals to justice. This case demonstrates that there’s no hiding place for those who seek to defraud the NHS.”

Harrison continued: “Jignesh Patel and Rahil Patel worked together for several years, obtaining drugs using false prescriptions and selling them on to European pharmaceutical wholesale businesses.”

In conclusion, Harrison added: “We will actively pursue any criminals who seek to defraud the NHS of vital funds. Every pound stolen from the NHS is a pound that cannot be spent on front line services. The NHSCFA is wholly committed to pursuing those responsible for criminality.”

*Further information is available online at https://cfa.nhs.uk