Craig Morris jailed for multi-million pound PPE fraud

Craig Morris, a 43-year-old former school governor, has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for his involvement in a multi-million-pound personal protective equipment (PPE) fraud scheme during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Morris worked alongside businessman Jogesh Bhandari to defraud medical companies in the United States and Germany. The pair operated through a network of companies, including Banton, claiming they could supply millions of boxes of nitrile gloves. Instead of fulfilling contracts, the funds were diverted to pay for luxury cars, property, and holidays.

In one instance, an agreement for 12 million boxes of gloves involved an escrow service that failed to secure the funds, which were instead transferred almost immediately to the conspirators.

While Morris has been sentenced, Jogesh Bhandari—described by prosecutors as the “driving force and the instigator”—is scheduled for sentencing on October 16 after failing to appear at a recent hearing. Meenakashi Bhandari, Jogesh's wife, received a two-year suspended prison sentence for concealing and transferring criminal property.