'King of Viagra' doctor jailed for part in multi-million pound fake medicine racket

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 12:01 EST, 14 October 2008

A doctor known as the 'King of Viagra' was jailed for three years today for his part in a multi-million-pound global conspiracy to sell fake medicines.

Dr George Patino, 48, sold thousands of counterfeit impotence tablets, mainly through the internet, to customers across the world - taking up to 200 orders a day.

Jailing him, a judge called Patino a 'disgrace to his profession' after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to sell counterfeit Viagra.

Patino was also ordered to pay £50,000 in costs, banned from being a company director for 10 years and had a sum of nearly 237,000 US dollars (£135,000) confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

He had stood trial last year alongside other members of a gang who were convicted of smuggling copies of Viagra and medicines to treat baldness from illicit factories in China, Pakistan and Asia.

The jury could not decide on the verdict for Patino and he was due to appear for a retrial, but last week entered a guilty plea to one charge.

The court was told that Patino was in league with the lynchpin of the operation Ashish Halai, 34, of Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, who was jailed for four-and-a-half years last year.

Instead of the medicine coming in the manufacturer Pfizer's packaging, they arrived to customers in brown bottles.

The labelling gave a return address as a Finnish post box number to deliberately conceal the identities of those behind the operation.

Kingston Crown Court in south east London was read a number of emails from disgruntled customers complaining that the tablets were fake.

Some said they suffered headaches and nausea, others said they had no effect while one complained that the tablets were coated in blue paint which was coming off.

Patino, who qualified as a doctor in 1994, is a Mexican national with a US passport. He has been living on bail in Kingston, south-west London since his arrest.

Judge Nicholas Price QC told him: 'As a highly intelligent man you must have been aware of the consequences of the illicit trade in Viagra.

'You must bear a heavy responsibility for your actions that were driven by greed and a reckless disregard for the effects of your criminality.

'Such conduct from a doctor of medicine goes against all medical ethics and makes you a disgrace within your profession.'

The judge had heard how Patino deposited over £1.3 million into a Singapore bank account in the name of Halai.

He pleaded guilty on the basis that his criminality netted him 237,000 dollars.

Patino was arrested by investigators from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) who had been tracking the gang when he arrived at Heathrow Airport in October 2005.

He was due to catch a connecting flight to Leeds for a business meeting in the Midlands.

Investigators said the huge amount of fake tablets he was peddling earned Patino the title the 'King of Viagra' among his associates.

He had a previous conviction in 1998 for smuggling a human growth hormone into the US, the court heard.

Benjamin Aina, defending, said father-of-two Patino had pleaded guilty to 'knowingly turning a blind eye' to the distribution of fake Viagra 'at the tail end of a legitimate business arrangement'.

He said that Patino's companies in Mexico had collapsed with his offices closed down and computers seized by landlords for non-payment of rent.

He added: 'He was a proud businessman and medical doctor - his reputation is now in tatters.'

Last year salesman Gary Haywood, 60, from Leicester was jailed for six years; student Ashwin Patel, 26, of north London given 18 months and businessman Zahid Mirza, 48, of Ilford, Essex sentenced to two and half years for being part of the conspiracy.

The supply ring sold tens of thousands of tablets in the UK, America, the Bahamas and Mexico. It involved scores of businesses, both real and fake.

The drugs were bought from Chinese suppliers for as little as 50 US cents (25p) but sold on to unsuspecting customers for up to £20 per tablet.

The case was the largest of its kind to be heard in the UK.

Judge Price said that Pfizer invested huge sums in the research and development so the public can have confidence it was produced with the highest standards of hygiene and safety.

He said of the Viagra scam: 'At the very least it put at risk the health of the patient and such criminal collaborations undermine reputable companies and damage public confidence.

'It was a sophisticated operation and the tablets could easily dupe and no doubt did dupe the consumer.

'The market had many customers that were vulnerable. Embarrassment may have made people seek what they thought was Viagra through other means than their GP.

'I have no doubt that there were many that didn't feel able to complain. Those that did were fobbed off. This trade was lucrative and widespread.'

Judge Price told Patino that he would be automatically deported once he had served his sentence.

Following the case Mick Deats, head of enforcement at the MHRA, said: 'Counterfeit medicines can be dangerous - designed so as to deceive patients and healthcare professionals whilst generating vast profits for the counterfeiters.

'The MHRA will not hesitate to use the full range of powers available to investigate and prosecute those who represent a risk to public health.'