British Conspirators of Kevin Xu In Court on Fake Cancer Drug Charges

Five British residents have been accused of importing into the UK fake cancer drugs, fake heart disease medicine, and fake schizophrenia medication from China worth millions of pounds.

Five British residents have been accused of importing into the UK fake cancer drugs, fake heart disease medicine, and fake schizophrenia medication from China worth millions of pounds.

Andrew Marshall, prosecuting attorney told a jury in Croydon Crown Court on Monday, December 6, 2010, “They were prepared to make their money by feeding duff drugs to people with serious illnesses such as schizophrenia, heart disease and prostate cancer,” reports the Independent.

Peter Gillespie, 64, of Hertfordshire; Richard Kemp, 61, of Y Waen, Flint, North Wales; Ian Harding, 58, of Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire; James Quinn, 69, of Virginia Water, Surrey; and Ian Gillespie, 59, of Marsh Baldon, Oxfordshire, all plead not guilty to conspiracy to defraud charges. They are accused by British prosecutors of defrauding pharmaceutical wholesalers, pharmacists, and consumers, among others between January 1, 2006 and June 20, 2007, reports The Independent.

Said Marshall, “This is the most serious breach of the medicine control regime…that has happened in the EU,” reports the Irish Times.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency investigated the men. They mimicked authentic medicines and labeled them as if they were from the EU, and then they illegally infiltrated the regulated medicine supply system designed to protect the public, charged the prosecution, as reported by the Irish Times.

The prosecution alleges that they imported fake versions of medicine used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, advanced prostate cancer, and ischemic heart disease from a convicted Chinese counterfeiter named Lu Xu. Lu Xu, also known as Kevin Xu, was caught in an undercover sting in the U.S. and currently in U.S. Federal prison, reports the Independent.

More on Kevin Xu’s case and conviction for fake drugs is available here.