UK man charged with selling counterfeit COVID-19 kits
A man from the UK has been charged with making counterfeit coronavirus treatment kits and sending them to customers across the world.
The City of London Police’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) arrested Frank Ludlow in a post office near his home on Friday, March 20. At the time, he was attempting to send 60 fake treatment kits to France, the US, and other parts of the UK.
Ludlow was charged on Saturday, March 21, with one count of fraud by false representation, one count of possession of articles for use in fraud, and one count of unlawfully manufacturing a medicinal product. He appeared at Brighton Magistrates Court on the same day and was remanded in custody until April 20, 2020.
PIPCU, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducted a joint investigation after US Customs and Border Protection intercepted a package in Los Angeles.
Amanda Solloway, UK IP minister, said: “Counterfeit medicines not only exploit consumers but pose a real threat to public safety. The selling of fake coronavirus treatments is despicable, preying on people’s fear and vulnerabilities at a time when the nation should be pulling together.”
The interception, which took place two days prior to Ludlow’s address, found a package containing 60 separate COVID-19 treatment kits, labelled as “Anti-Pathogenic treatment”, which were sent from the UK.
According to PIPCU, the kits are thought to contain potassium thiocyanate and hydrogen peroxide, both of which are extremely harmful chemicals when the user is instructed to wash and rinse their mouth with them. Police are awaiting the results of forensic testing on the kits.
A search of Ludlow’s home discovered 300 more treatment kits and an estimated 20 litres of chemicals used in the production of the fake kits.
Dr Ros Lynch, director of copyright enforcement at the UK Intellectual Property Office, added: “We congratulate PIPCU for an outstanding result. Counterfeit medicines not only exploit the consumer but pose a real threat to public safety. In this case it is clear that PIPCU’s arrest has helped to protect the public’s wellbeing.”
Detective chief superintendent Clinton Blackburn, from the City of London of Police, added that fraudsters are “constantly looking for ways in which they can exploit people, including using global emergencies, and times of uncertainty for many, to defraud people out of their money”.
He said that while swift action was talent arrest Ludlow, the police believed some of the kits may still be in circulation.
The public are advised not to use the kits if they have purchased one, and to report it to Action Fraud via their website www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040 and quoting ‘Trinity CV19 treatment kits’”.
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