Bangalore unto

India health scams fleece elderly in UK

NO sooner had I written a fortnight ago about the foreign firms ripping off vulnerable people with health supplement scams, than another dreadful case surfaced.

These opaque operations are typically UK limited companies with directors hiding behind virtual addresses who prove untouchable because in reality they’re operating from India.

The latest example has provided a unique insight into these scams because, for once, two culprits have been brought to justice.

Fredy Fernandes was the sole director of House of Naturecare Ltd, while accomplice Salvador Rodrigues was the director of sister company Nutri Care Quest Ltd. They stood in the dock at St Albans Crown Court accused of fraudulent trading and money laundering in an important prosecution brought by Hertfordshire Trading Standards.

What was not in dispute was that these businesses were frauds that targeted the elderly and vulnerable, battering them with repeated cold calls until they bought vastly overpriced supposed health remedies.

Almost 2,000 people were scammed out of around £350,000.

The question for the jury was how much Fernandes and Rodrigues, both 44 and from Peterborough, knew about what was going on, since both claimed to be mere dupes of people who were really pulling the strings.

Fernandes admitted seeing many complaints from customers or their relatives, as well as numerous bank chargebacks, but insisted that he was not authorised to deal with them and forwarded them to bosses in India.

“All the business and sales were done from India,” he said.

Now those Indian businesses, normally so difficult to identify, can be revealed after being named in