Emmanuel Nbanga, 46, of Solihull, was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on Friday 23 October 2026 having been found guilty of the £279,000 fraud carried out while he carried out while employed by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (WAHT) as a materials management assistant at the Alexandra Hospital.

Solomon Adeyemi, 57, of Birmingham, was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment, and Remilekun Olusesi, of Solihull, was sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment, suspended for 36 months, for their involvement in the fraud.

Adeyemi was the director of a company called Ultimate Medical (UK) Ltd (UML), based in Tyseley, Birmingham.

Between October 2016 and September 2019, Nbanga stole medical supplies from operating theatre stock rooms at the Alexandra Hospital and passed it onto UML, who then sold the items back to WAHT.

Additionally, UML supplied the Alexandra Hospital with sub-standard warm-up jackets, needle containers and drug labels that they sourced from China.

Ben Harrison, head of operations and engagement at the NHS Counter Fraud Authority, said: ‘Nbanga abused his trusted position to systematically steal vital medical stock and arrange for it to be sold back to the very trust he was employed by, effectively making the NHS pay twice for its own medical supplies. The involvement of multiple individuals and two shell companies shows the calculated and organised nature of this fraud.'

Stephen Collman, managing director of WAHT, said: ‘We cannot, and will not, tolerate theft, fraud, bribery or corruption, especially where it deprives the NHS of much needed funds and adversely impacts on our staff and patients. This was an extensive and sustained programme of fraud which cost the NHS hundreds of thousands of pounds, made all the worse by the fact that it was carried out by NHS staff members abusing their positions of trust. We thank the CFA for their diligence and support in investigating this case and in securing these convictions.'