Fraudster behind bars for selling unauthorised Covid tests in pandemic crisis
A man has been jailed and another given a suspended prison term for selling unauthorised coronavirus tests during the pandemic.
Ron Huss-Smickler, 41, and Steven Lawrence Beckford, 39, bought the non-certified kits from Chinese shopping website Alibaba in March 2020 in the hope of making up to £150,000 a month.
They then sold their ‘15 Minute Rapid Home Self-Testing Kits’ online at £39.95 to customers at home, the continent and the United States, through their enterprise called Be Corona Safe.
The tests were split into individual kits packages, with fake instruction pamphlets and CE markings falsely purporting that the items met EU requirements.
The defendants started planning the scheme as early as January 2020 when one told the other that face masks seemed a good opportunity, “albeit capitalising on tragedy”.
They even applied to the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) for emergency use authorisation which was refused.
The pair took orders for more than 700 kits before being arrested. There was no evidence that the test kits worked when used in the way they were advertised.
For admitting fraud by misrepresentation, Smickler, of Branston Street, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, was jailed for 18 months. For admitting a trade offence of selling a dangerous article Beckford, from London, was jailed for four months suspended for two years and must carry out 100 hours of unpaid work. Both men were banned from acting as company directors at Birmingham Crown Court.
Crown Prosecution Service specialist Sarah Melo said: “The defendants quickly spotted an opportunity in the early stages of the pandemic, which was in reality an attempt to capitalise on the fears of the general public amid a global crisis.
“They carried on their business aware that what they were doing was wrong, and their stated intention was to make huge profits.
“There was no evidence that the test kits worked when used in the way they were advertised, but this did not deter them selling them without any regard to the welfare of their customers.
“We work closely with investigators such as the MHRA and the National Crime Agency and will not hesitate to prosecute where there is evidence of fraud.”
