Men convicted of fake Viagra plot

Ashish Halai, 31, of Borehamwood, Herts, was one of four men who smuggled copies of Viagra and medicines to treat male baldness from illicit factories in China, Pakistan and Asia.

The case is the largest of its kind to be heard in the UK, say experts at the UK regulatory body Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

The drugs were bought from Chinese suppliers for as little as 50 US cents but sold on to unsuspecting customers for up to £20 per tablet. The supply ring sold tens of thousands of tablets, spanned the UK, America, the Bahamas and Mexico and involved scores of businesses, both real and fake.

Millions of pounds passed through bank accounts belonging to the four men and investigators are still trying to uncover evidence of how much profit they made from their three and a half year enterprise.

Mr Halai was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court for four counts of selling fake medication.

Last month three other defendants charged in relation to the same conspiracy were found guilty by a jury sitting at Kingston Crown Court.

On Monday reporting restrictions covering the seven month trial were lifted.

Salesman Gary Haywood, 58, from Leicester, student Ashwin Patel, 24, of north London, and businessman Zahid Mirza, 45, of Ilford, Essex, were all found guilty last month of taking part in the conspiracy. They are due to be sentenced next month.

The jury failed to reach verdicts on Mexican doctor, George Patino, pharmaceutical sales representative Alpesh Patel of Kingsbury, London, pharmacist Rajendra Shah of St Albans, Herts and businessman Ketan Mehta of Grove Park, London. The four will face a retrial next year.