FIVE MEN have been accused of orchestrating a multi-million pound fake medicine scam by importing counterfeit drugs for cancer, heart disease and schizophrenia from China to sell in the United Kingdom.
“This case is considered to represent the most serious breach of the medicine control regime – it’s the most serious breach that has happened in the EU,” Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Andrew Marshall told Croydon Crown Court.
Ian Gillespie (59), James Quinn and Peter Gillespie (64) from Hertfordshire; Richard Kemp (61) from North Wales; and Ian Harding (58) from Wiltshire, all deny charges of conspiracy to defraud.
The prosecution alleges that the five imported fake versions of Zyprexa, a medicine used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; Casodex, a treatment for advanced prostate cancer; and Plavix, used to treat ischemic heart disease from a Chinese counterfeiter named Lu Xu.
He has since been jailed in the United States after he was caught by detectives running an undercover sting about another medicine unconnected to the charges facing the five defendants.
In his opening statement in the trial, which is expected to last for four months, Mr Marshall highlighted the gains to be made from illegal drugs, pointing that 145,000 patients in the UK were prescribed Zyprexa last year at a cost of £80 (€94) for 28 tablets, or £13.5m in total. Casodex costs £128 a pack, while Plavix costs £35 a pack, he told the court, adding that the prosecution was taken after a major investigation by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
All five also face charges of selling or supplying Casodex and Plavix without a marketing authorisation, and of selling or distributing counterfeit Casodex and Plavix; all, bar Mr Quinn, are accused of selling fake Zyprexa. Mr Gillespie is also charged with acting as a company director while disqualified for allegedly running a medical supplies company in Basingstoke even though he was disqualified for bankruptcy five years ago.
“The purpose of this activity is not some beneficial motivation. It’s to obtain the profits of buying illegal goods cheaply and selling them as if they were genuine,” said Mr Marshall. “The system has been corrupted and in particular patients, we suggest, put at risk.”
