Police in Naples have busted a multi-million pound racket in which Italian fraudsters are said to have supplied illegally obtained pharmaceuticals to UK companies.
Investigators said the culprits used bogus prescriptions to obtain a slew of state-subsidised drugs, from cancer medicines to Viagra (sildenafil), which they then sold to companies in Britain, at a large profit.
The scam, centred on the southern provinces of Naples and Caserta, is estimated to have cost the Italian state several million euros.
A doctor, three pharmacists and a drug company representative were among 25 people arrested, with “five of them caught red-handed,” Italian news agencies have reported. Those arrested may be charged with fraud and illegal trafficking of medicines and the police also seized pharmaceuticals and prescriptions.
Italian authorities have not released the names of the UK companies that received the medicines on the “parallel market”. However, La Repubblica newspaper has reported investigators as saying that the owner of one UK pharmaceutical supplier was involved in the scam.
No comments:
Post a Comment