A FORMER NHS employee from Solihull has been found guilty of conning the NHS out of £279,000 by selling its own equipment back to the service.
Emmanuel Nbanga, who worked at Redditch’s Alexandra Hospital, was found guilty at Worcester Crown Court of fraud and fraudulent trading.
Alongside his wife, Remilekun Olusesi, who was convicted of money laundering, the pair took medical equipment from the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and then sold it back to the trust, the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) said.
Solomon Adeymi, who worked alongside them, was found guilty in relation to an offence of fraudulent trading, he having pleaded guilty earlier to being in possession of false identity documents.
An NHS Counter Fraud Authority investigation and subsequent prosecution uncovered offending committed between October 23 2017 and September 11 2019 causing a loss to the NHS of £279,000.
Nbanga worked in materials management which meant he was responsible for monitoring stock levels for medical supplies for the operating theatres including ordering new products when required and checking the deliveries of the stock ordered.
He went on to steal this stock intended to make sure medical operations could happen and provided it to Adeyemi, the director of Ultimate Medical Limited (UML).
It was repackaged by them and then Nbanga purchased this stock back from UML alongside other medical items supplied by UML that did not conform to medical device regulation and were not authentic or suitable medical products.
Olusesi used her company as a conduit and vehicle to launder monies from these frauds.
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 three will be sentenced at a later date and both Adeyemi and Nbanga were remanded in custody as the judge considered them to be a flight risk.
