Gang that made £10m selling fake Viagra jailed for 15 years

 
Pills: A genuine bottle of Viagra pills. Three men were today jailed for selling knock-offs that could have endangered users (Picture: PA)
Ramzy Alwakeel13 April 2015
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A gang that pocketed £10 million by selling fake Viagra before laundering the profits through a fishing tackle business have been jailed for 15 years.

Judge Charles Wide QC, sentencing the group at the Old Bailey, described the mail-order ring operated by Neil Gilbert, Mark Bristrow and Seth Pennington as a "highly organised, large-scale criminal enterprise". The scam was found to be earning £60,000 a week.

Based in north-east Lincolnshire and Sussex and headed by Gilbert, 42, the gang offered cheap pills to treat erectile dysfunction.

"The real mischief is the catastrophic damage that could be caused," Judge Wide added.

Drug companies gave evidence that fake Viagra had in the past been found to contain acid, brick dust and road paint.

Linchpin Gilbert, 42, was today sentenced to six years for his "major operational role", which saw him heading the group's operation in Sussex laundering money through Panama and Greece.

Gilbert, of Brighton, was also sentenced to six years for offshore money laundering, four and half years for money laundering, 15 months for conspiracy to sell or supply a medicinal product without marketing authorisation, three years for selling or distributing counterfeit goods, 18 months for possession of counterfeit goods and 15 months for possession of medicinal drugs without marketing authorisation.

Bristrow, 45, of Crayford, Kent, was given four years for money laundering, 12 months for conspiracy and two years for selling or distributing counterfeit goods.

The judge told him he was was the middleman in the operation. He had access to bank accounts and kept about 10 per cent of the money received, meaning he bagged "not less than £31,000 for yourself personally".

Pennington, 42, of Brighton, described as Gilbert's right-hand man, was sentenced to five years and three and a half years on two counts of money laundering, 16 months for possession of counterfeit goods and 14 months for conspiracy to sell or supply.

All the sentences will run concurrently.

The group used a series of front companies claiming to sell jewellery, fishing tackle and cosmetics to accept electronic payments, and laundered the proceeds through the bank accounts, the court heard.

The audacious trio even kept trading after their arrest, it was added. Their conspiracy lasted eight years in all.

Additional reporting by PA

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