Emmanuel Nbanga conspired with a businessman to steal operating theatre supplies and resell them to the same NHS trust, while his wife helped launder the proceeds. Investigators warned that some of the imported products posed a potential risk to patients.

A hospital worker in the United Kingdom has been jailed for eight years after stealing vital medical supplies from his workplace and arranging for them to be sold back to the same hospital in a fraud that cost the NHS nearly £233,000.

A Nigeria national, Emmanuel Nbanga, 46, worked in materials management at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, where he was responsible for monitoring operating theatre stock levels and ordering replacement supplies.

However, instead of carrying out his duties honestly, Nbanga exploited his position to steal medical goods from operating theatre supply rooms and pass them to Birmingham-based businessman Solomon Adeyemi who is also a Nigerian.

Adeyemi then allegedly repackaged the stolen items through his company, Ultimate Medical Limited, allowing Nbanga to order the same supplies back into the hospital.

The elaborate scheme resulted in Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust effectively paying to recover medical supplies that already belonged to it.

Substandard Medical Products Raised Patient Safety Fears

The investigation also uncovered concerns about other products supplied to the hospital through the fraudulent arrangement.

Among the items purchased were imported needle containers, warm-up jackets and drug labels from China that reportedly failed to meet applicable medical device regulations and could not be verified as authentic or suitable for medical use.

The discovery forced the hospital trust to destroy unverified stock over concerns about patient safety.

The case raised serious questions about how the fraud continued for years and how potentially unsuitable products were able to enter hospital operating theatres.

Ben Harrison of the NHS Counter Fraud Authority said the fraud posed a direct risk to patients, warning that substandard and unsanitary goods entering operating theatres could have serious consequences for their health and safety.

Suspicious Deliveries Exposed the Scheme

The fraud began to unravel after hospital staff noticed that some packages delivered to operating theatres appeared to have been opened previously.

Further checks revealed that identification numbers on the deliveries matched items the hospital had already purchased and received.

The discovery triggered suspicions that the trust was being charged for supplies that had originally been stolen from its own facilities.

Investigators subsequently uncovered the scheme, which operated between October 2016 and September 2019.

Nbanga's wife, Remilekun Olusesi, was also implicated in the operation. She used a shell company as a channel to launder money generated by the fraud, according to the case.

Businessman Also Defrauded NHS Trusts

Adeyemi's criminal activities extended beyond the medical supplies fraud.

He also used a forged passport, a fake National Insurance card and false bank statements to secure healthcare assistant jobs across two NHS trusts.

Through the deception, he obtained nearly £119,000 in wages.

The case exposed multiple layers of fraud involving the theft and resale of hospital supplies, the distribution of questionable medical products, money laundering and the use of forged documents to obtain NHS employment.

Court Hands Down Prison Sentences

Nbanga was convicted of fraud by abuse of position and fraudulent trading at Worcester Crown Court and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Adeyemi received a seven-year prison sentence for his role in the criminal operation.

Olusesi was sentenced to 30 months in prison, suspended for 36 months, for money laundering.

The convictions bring a major fraud operation involving hundreds of thousands of pounds in NHS expenditure to a close, while highlighting the potential consequences when people entrusted with protecting public healthcare resources exploit their positions for personal gain.

The case also serves as a reminder that fraud involving medical supplies is not simply a financial crime: when the quality, authenticity and safety of products cannot be established, patients may be placed at risk.