06 January 2024 , 18:12
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A British couple are accused of exploiting cancer patients by giving them knock-off medication and defrauding the US health system.
Millionaires Sukhi and Kiran Ghuman are said to have given patients cheaper, unregulated versions of lung and pancreatic cancer drugs to up their profits – claims they strongly deny. They face extradition to the US where it is alleged unregulated meds were smuggled from India and Sri Lanka.
Prosecutors say the drugs were administered to patients at medical clinics owned by Sukhi Ghuman in California and Arizona. His wife Kiran was vice-president of one of the clinics. Legal papers accusing the Ghumans, along with five others, state: “The defendants did not inform the patients… that foreign unapproved drugs were being injected into their bodies.” It is further alleged that expired meds were also used on several patients.
Dr Sukhi is listed as a director of Octavian Security Americas LLCThe Ghumans have been warned their lavish lifestyle may be curtailed by the pending legal action as prosecutors also want to claw back criminal proceeds. Mr Ghuman, 46, who is described as a “business force”, owns a £1.3million property in Arizona with a putting green and pool.
The couple previously ran Nottingham-based firm Octavian Security Ltd, which went bust in 2010 owing £5.5m in unpaid taxes to HMRC, according to latest figures.
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Mrs Ghuman, 45, is now the MD of a UK security company which has been awarded Government contracts.
In October police arrested the pair at their six-bed mansion in Newark, Notts, after receiving a warrant from US authorities. An indictment alleges their involvement in 25 counts of drug smuggling and healthcare fraud in a plot spanning 2019 to 2023.
It is said they abused public health schemes Medicare and Medicaid by claiming cash for unapproved drugs prescribed to low-income patients. Prosecutors also say they fraudulently bought nearly $1m worth of pharmaceuticals from a US wholesaler before illegally selling them to another company.
A legal document states: “The object of the conspiracy was for defendants to unlawfully enrich themselves by smuggling, introducing, receiving and delivering for pay foreign unapproved drugs with the intent to defraud and mislead.”
The couple are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court in February for a preliminary extradition hearing.
A solicitor for the pair said: “Mr and Mrs Ghuman deny all of the allegations made in the proceedings against them and are contesting the applications for their extradition. They both expect to be fully exonerated in these proceedings.”
They said Mr Ghuman was previously chair of cancer charity We Support U which they said provided free treatment to patients who could not afford it.