The global scramble for personal protective equipment in 2020 was a nightmare of supply chain collapses and desperate negotiations. For most, it was a crisis. For Jogesh Bhandari, it was a massive business opportunity.
But he had no intention of actually delivering any nitrile gloves.
Instead, he and his co-conspirators took millions of pounds from businesses desperate for medical supplies and blew it on high-end sports cars, Swiss watches, and major home renovations.
On July 15, 2026, the party officially ended at Leicester Crown Court. The convictions of Bhandari, his wife Meenakashi, and their associate Craig Morris show that years after the initial panic subsided, the financial hangover of pandemic fraud is still catching up with those who treated public distress as a personal ATM.
Inside the Nitrile Glove Scam that Funded a Porsche
When the pandemic hit, Bhandari, 59, set up a company in Loughborough under the guise of buying and selling medical gloves. He brought in Craig Morris, 43, to act as the fast-talking frontman to secure deals with desperate buyers.
To make the operation look legitimate, they partnered with Frank Labruzzo, an American assistant attorney general at the Louisiana State Department of Justice, who set up a fraudulent escrow account to hold buyer funds.
The plan was incredibly simple:
- Convince buyers they had access to millions of boxes of scarce nitrile gloves.
- Have the buyers deposit millions into Labruzzo’s escrow account to prove they had the funds.
- Immediately drain the escrow account before any goods were shipped.
In their first major deal in November 2020, Bhandari promised to supply 12 million boxes of gloves. The buyer deposited the cash, and the money was instantly dispersed among Labruzzo, Bhandari, and various shell accounts. A month later, they pulled off a second deal, netting another $2.7 million. Bhandari used $500,000 of it just to clear personal debts.
To keep the scam going, Bhandari used forged bank statements showing his business had up to $125 million in capital. By the final deal, $1.35 million landed straight into a business account controlled by his wife, Meenakashi. From there, Bhandari immediately wired £200,000 to Morris and spent £126,000 on a brand-new Porsche.
"Milk It, Fill Ya Boots"
The sheer arrogance of the group was laid bare during the trial through WhatsApp messages recovered by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
When the news was saturated with stories of severe PPE shortages, Morris messaged Bhandari: "All over the news is all about ppe shortage. Let's clean up!! Milk it fill ya boots".
Bhandari enthusiastically replied: "[thumbs up] it's about a good teamwork and EVERYONE making money".
Later, Bhandari sent Morris a picture of a Rolls-Royce with a message making his ultimate ambitions clear: "But if I want one of these then we need to keep going".
Instead of buying medical gear, their bank records showed a continuous stream of luxury purchases, including:
- A brand-new Porsche (£126,000).
- An Audi A5, a Land Rover Discovery, and a VW Golf.
- Hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on Rolex watches and bespoke jewelry.
- Expensive home improvements.
- Five-star worldwide travel and holiday packages.
The group eventually fell out over money in late 2021, and the NCA arrested them in February 2023. Following a five-week trial at Leicester Crown Court, Bhandari, his wife, and Morris were convicted of multiple counts of fraud and money laundering. They are scheduled for sentencing on August 21, 2026. Their American partner, Labruzzo, has already been convicted in the US.
The Broader Cleanup of Pandemic Fraud
This case isn't an isolated incident. It is part of a massive, systematic effort by international law enforcement to claw back billions stolen during the chaos of 2020.
At the height of the crisis, governments rushed to distribute emergency relief. The priority was speed, not security. Predictably, organized crime and opportunists took full advantage.
In the UK, the Bounce Back Loan (BBL) scheme alone was heavily targeted. Fraudsters set up fake companies or vastly inflated their turnovers to secure quick, taxpayer-backed £50,000 loans. Many of those directors are now facing prison time and long-term disqualifications.
UK Insolvency Service Actions (2024–2025):
- Total director disqualifications: Over 1,000
- Disqualifications specifically for Covid loan abuse: 736
- Average disqualification term: 8 years
For instance, in February 2026, Fahad Sheikh of Manchester was jailed for 16 months after claiming a £50,000 loan for his non-trading garage business, using the money to pay off personal debts. Even when offenders repay the money, courts are handed down custodial sentences to set a precedent. In April 2025, former joiner Charles Ling received a 15-month suspended sentence for BBL fraud despite repaying the £30,000 loan in full during the investigation.
The System is Catching Up
If you think the passage of time protects those who took advantage of pandemic programs, you're wrong. The paper trail left by digital banking, escrow accounts, and luxury asset registration doesn't expire.
Agencies like the NCA, the Insolvency Service, and the IRS are utilizing sophisticated data-matching tools to cross-reference emergency applications against actual tax filings and company activity.
The lesson here is simple. The systems that were built for speed in 2020 were fragile. But the forensic investigations following them are patient, methodical, and highly effective. Six years on, the bills are finally coming due.
