0:00:03 > 0:00:06Welcome to a world where nothing is quite as it seems.
0:00:06 > 0:00:09Welcome to Fake Britain.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25- Get down! Get down now! - Get your hands behind your back now!
0:00:25 > 0:00:29In this series, I'll investigate the world of the criminals
0:00:29 > 0:00:31who make their money at your expense
0:00:31 > 0:00:34and I'll be showing you how not to get ripped off.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38On today's programme, we have exclusive access
0:00:38 > 0:00:41to the world's largest operation against fake medicines.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43Police! Stay where you are!
0:00:44 > 0:00:49We tell the tale of the fairy fakes as a master forger is finally caught.
0:00:49 > 0:00:54I thought he had terrific nerve to come to me and let me do the tests in front of him
0:00:54 > 0:00:57because they could only show the picture was new.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01We bring you the story of Britain's biggest ever holiday villa fraudster.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04It was really the perfect international crime.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15Danny Lee-Frost is head of operations at the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency - MHRA.
0:01:15 > 0:01:22Danny and his team are engaged in a week of dawn raids across the UK, part of Operation Pangea,
0:01:22 > 0:01:28an international campaign to target criminals behind the supply of fake medicines. This morning,
0:01:28 > 0:01:30the team are in South Wales.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35We'll be looking for some very strong, powerful sleeping tablets
0:01:35 > 0:01:41and also some weight loss and some counterfeit erectile dysfunction medicines.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46Danny and the team arrive at the property and join forces with the local police.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50This is the one. OK, let's jump out.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57No-one is answering the door, so there is only one thing for it.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03Police! Stay where you are!
0:02:04 > 0:02:08The police wrestle the suspects to the ground.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10SHOUTING
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Female officer, female officer!
0:02:14 > 0:02:19The police have used the ram and forced entry and now we've got entry teams,
0:02:19 > 0:02:24followed by a search team, going into the premises and looking for counterfeit medicines.
0:02:24 > 0:02:30The suspects are kept under guard in their living room as officers sweep through the house.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35They find evidence of drug use
0:02:35 > 0:02:38and exactly what they've been looking for -
0:02:38 > 0:02:41fake medicines and evidence of dealing.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45There's quite a large quantity of cash here on the premises.
0:02:45 > 0:02:52There's also evidence of possible drug dealing with a list of names and quantities and amounts of money.
0:02:52 > 0:02:57The suspects are led away and the drugs and evidence is brought out by Danny and the team.
0:02:57 > 0:03:03OK, we've got something that's described as Russian Cialis. I've not come across that one before.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06We've got some counterfeit Viagra, a laptop computer.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11We'll look at that to see who he's been taking orders from and who he's been sending for.
0:03:11 > 0:03:16There has been an extraordinary development at another address being raided.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21A man who lives in an old people's home has been found storing significant quantities
0:03:21 > 0:03:25of another drug banned in the UK. He is also arrested.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29Next, it's off to a third address, a friend of the first man.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33We're from the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35We have a warrant to search your premises.
0:03:35 > 0:03:40Officers enter the property. The man is upstairs under the influence of drugs.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45He's obviously completely off his head on something. He can hardly speak.
0:03:45 > 0:03:50The man is led away and medicines bagged, tagged and brought out.
0:03:50 > 0:03:56We have one person arrested and we have recovered a quantity of what appears to be generic diazepam.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00That's an illegal copy of a powerful prescription drug.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03They need to be sent to our laboratory for analysis.
0:04:03 > 0:04:10Nimo Ahmed is Head of Enforcement at the MHRA and central to co-ordinating Operation Pangea.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13The initiative actually started here in the UK in 2006
0:04:13 > 0:04:16when we had an internet day of action
0:04:16 > 0:04:20and that's grown to an international internet week of action
0:04:20 > 0:04:24where this year we saw over 80 countries involved and over 165 agencies involved
0:04:24 > 0:04:28in the targeting of the illegal online supply of medicines.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32As well as targeting suppliers, Operation Pangea is focused
0:04:32 > 0:04:35on stopping fake drugs getting into the country.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38Here in the Midlands at Britain's largest postal hub,
0:04:38 > 0:04:43the UK Border Agency are intercepting suspect packages from abroad.
0:04:43 > 0:04:48We can tell by the shape and colour that these contain medications.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50Suspect packages are brought inside
0:04:50 > 0:04:55and examined by the MHRA and representatives of genuine drugs companies.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00Quite a lot of them we suspect to be counterfeit Viagra. There's about 2,000 here.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03That's a street value of almost £10,000.
0:05:06 > 0:05:13There appears to be 1,400 packets, each containing four tablets.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17That's a street value of over £20,000.
0:05:17 > 0:05:23To confirm the drugs are counterfeit, samples are taken from the suspect packages and tested,
0:05:23 > 0:05:26using the MHRA's state-of-the-art, new mobile testing kit.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31In Operation Pangea 2011, we deployed for the first time purpose-made equipment which allows us
0:05:31 > 0:05:34to test in the field for counterfeit medicines.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38The good thing about that piece of equipment is it cost nearly £40,000.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42We've paid for that out of proceeds of crime generated from prosecutions.
0:05:42 > 0:05:47The machine holds a database of 3,000 different legitimate medicines.
0:05:47 > 0:05:53A suspect pill is analysed and it takes just seconds to compare it against bona fide samples.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56The results are clear. It's a fake.
0:05:57 > 0:06:03As the day progresses, the team find more counterfeit medicines bought online, flooding into Britain.
0:06:03 > 0:06:09Later in the programme, we reveal fake drugs are also getting into the NHS
0:06:09 > 0:06:12as we meet the lady who unwittingly took them.
0:06:12 > 0:06:19Well, I panicked because I thought, have they done harm that I couldn't reverse?
0:06:19 > 0:06:22She could have been taking something that was poisoning her.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32Anti-fraud agencies around the world estimate
0:06:32 > 0:06:36that between 10 and 50% of all artworks are counterfeit,
0:06:36 > 0:06:41but it can be almost impossible to prove conclusively a work is a fake.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45Rupert Maas is an art dealer based in London's West End.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49This is my art gallery. I deal in Victorian and British paintings.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53Rupert was approached by a man wanting to sell him this painting
0:06:53 > 0:06:58he said was by the Victorian fairy painter John Anster Fitzgerald.
0:06:58 > 0:07:03He said his name was Thwaites and that the painting had belonged to his family
0:07:03 > 0:07:07and had come into his family as a result of a settlement of a debt.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Rupert found the painting enchanting.
0:07:09 > 0:07:13I thought it was absolutely marvellous. It's called The Miser
0:07:13 > 0:07:17and the fairies are stealing his money. It's his worst nightmare.
0:07:17 > 0:07:23Victorian fairy paintings are highly collectable and can go for tens of thousands of pounds,
0:07:23 > 0:07:25but Rupert didn't immediately buy the painting.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30There was something about it that didn't quite ring true, the colour, particularly.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34And the surface had a very, very thick layer of varnish on it.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Rupert had the picture examined by a local restorer.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41He said he thought it was a genuine 19th century piece,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44so Rupert bought the painting and sold it to a client.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48He already had quite a good collection, so it was going into that.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50He was absolutely delighted with it.
0:07:50 > 0:07:56Later that year, Rupert was offered another Fitzgerald painting. This time, he decided not to buy it.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Those same alarm bells were ringing and this time I listened to them.
0:08:00 > 0:08:06I had to go out to an underground car park at Reading station, I think it was,
0:08:06 > 0:08:12to look at this picture under quite difficult conditions. It all felt wrong, so I didn't buy it.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17But it wasn't until Rupert saw the third new Fitzgerald painting to come on to the market,
0:08:17 > 0:08:21Poppies With Imps And Fairies, that he realised his previous mistake.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25This time, this was a fairy on a poppy. It was smaller.
0:08:25 > 0:08:31It had exactly the same problems, again slightly suspicious circumstances of sale,
0:08:31 > 0:08:33and the colour and the surface.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37The point was this time, when I saw that, I thought, "This painting is wrong."
0:08:37 > 0:08:40What it did was kill the other two.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45They both came tumbling down in my mind. I realised I'd made a terrible mistake buying the first one.
0:08:47 > 0:08:53Michelle Roycroft is a senior investigator at the Metropolitan Police Art and Antiques Unit.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58Alerted to the possibility of Fitzgerald fakes, she retrieved the first two paintings.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03This is the second painting, Going To The Masked Ball, which sold at auction for £88,000.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08You will be able to see the incredible detail and intricate figures.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13Some of them are quite ghoulish which was very typical of John Anster Fitzgerald.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Michelle decided to pay Robert Thwaites a visit.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21He had an early morning call from the Art and Antiques Unit and very quickly,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25we found his studio which was in a barn at the back of his home address
0:09:25 > 0:09:28and it was like walking into an Aladdin's Cave.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31There were Victorian paints,
0:09:31 > 0:09:36there were books, including Eric Hebborn's The Forger's Handbook.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39There were pieces of cutting of old Victorian newspaper.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Michelle took the work back to Scotland Yard.
0:09:42 > 0:09:47We painstakingly went through every single piece of paper, looking for evidence,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50and whilst flicking through one of the notebooks,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52I came across a photograph of a poppy
0:09:52 > 0:09:57which was an exact match for the poppy which appeared in the centre
0:09:57 > 0:10:01of the third painting on the market, The Poppies With Imps And Fairies.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Michelle also found a tracing of the flower.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08She handed everything over to their specialist photographic laboratory.
0:10:08 > 0:10:14We had the image and we were able to lay over the tracing which matched the photo exactly.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19And as you can see, again, it's an exact match.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24But Thwaites insisted any resemblance between the photo and the painting was coincidental.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28Michelle needed more evidence to prove the forgeries.
0:10:28 > 0:10:34Expert restorer Hamish Dewar was asked to examine the works to see if he thought they were fakes.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39Hamish conducted a simple test using a mild solvent and a cotton bud.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43If the paint comes off when rubbed lightly, it's a new painting.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47You see on this picture, which is genuinely 19th century,
0:10:47 > 0:10:49I just get a very thin film of dirt,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53but the pigments themselves, the paint layers are not affected at all,
0:10:53 > 0:10:58whereas on the supposed Fitzgerald in question, the paint immediately dissolved,
0:10:58 > 0:11:02leading me to suspect very strongly it was a new picture.
0:11:02 > 0:11:07Hamish was convinced they were fakes, but Thwaites still denied the paintings were forged.
0:11:07 > 0:11:14He admitted restoring the works, but insisted they were real paintings by John Anster Fitzgerald.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18Mr Thwaites was able to say he had restored the paintings.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22Certainly with The Miser that he had said had been damaged during the Blitz,
0:11:22 > 0:11:27he had a perfectly good excuse as to why he had carried out this restoration work.
0:11:27 > 0:11:32Thwaites' brother even visited Hamish's studio to try and convince him the works were genuine.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37He said the picture was he and his brother's only inheritance from their father,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40this would be financially ruinous for them.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45I thought he had terrific nerve to come to me and let me do the tests in front of him
0:11:45 > 0:11:51because they could only show the picture was new. He believed he could convince me otherwise.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54To prove conclusively they were fakes,
0:11:54 > 0:11:59Michelle needed to show the bottom layer of paint, as well as the top layer, was new.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04To do so, she called in scientific analyst Dr Nicholas Eastaugh.
0:12:04 > 0:12:10This is a small electron microscope. This is a technique called gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.
0:12:10 > 0:12:17Nicholas uses precise scientific techniques to determine the date works of art were created.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20The work sees the worlds of art and science combined.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22We've got samples from Pompeii.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27That is a small sample of vermilion from Turner's palette.
0:12:27 > 0:12:32Dr Eastaugh examined the works Thwaites claimed to be by Fitzgerald.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36I sampled all the different, obvious kind of colour areas,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39so you've got blues and greens and yellows and reds.
0:12:39 > 0:12:43What I found in this case was rather an odd mixture.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48There were some things that we would normally associate with 19th, early 20th century paintings.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51We might pick out a colour called emerald green.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54Cleverly, Thwaites had used some Victorian paints.
0:12:54 > 0:12:59However, Nick then took samples right from the bottom layer of paint
0:12:59 > 0:13:02and found evidence of titanium white.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06Each of these specks is an individual particle of titanium white.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10The basic issue with finding titanium white in a painting,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13especially if it's supposed to be a Victorian painting,
0:13:13 > 0:13:16is this wasn't introduced until the 20th century.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20We really don't find it in paintings before the 1940s or '50s,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23so it's absolutely not something Fitzgerald would have used.
0:13:23 > 0:13:29To find a pigment like titanium white in this painting essentially spells out that it's a fake.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33The fact titanium white formed the base layer of the painting
0:13:33 > 0:13:36was the final nail in the coffin for Robert Thwaites.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39It was finally proven these were fake fairy paintings.
0:13:39 > 0:13:46Thwaites was jailed for two and a half years. The case was a triumph for the Art and Antiques Unit.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50When they all pleaded guilty, it was a great feeling of satisfaction.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55But the forger Robert Thwaites can perhaps be heartened by one thing.
0:13:55 > 0:14:01The man who had bought The Miser from Rupert considered it the finest fairy painting in his collection
0:14:01 > 0:14:03and demanded it back.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06The man who bought this from us absolutely loved the picture
0:14:06 > 0:14:10and at the end of the story, Thwaites had gone to prison,
0:14:10 > 0:14:15we were able to get it back from the Metropolitan Police and it went back to the owner.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18Now it's with his family who absolutely love it.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23I wonder if even Mr Thwaites can take some satisfaction in that?
0:14:23 > 0:14:26One of his pictures is greatly admired and enjoyed.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34We all look forward to going on holiday,
0:14:34 > 0:14:40but what if, when you arrived at your destination, your accommodation didn't exist
0:14:40 > 0:14:46and what if you turned out to be one of hundreds of victims of Britain's biggest ever holiday fraud?
0:14:46 > 0:14:49This next case will shock you.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54Peter White and his wife and daughters run a catering business in Grayshott, Surrey.
0:14:54 > 0:15:01Every summer, the family travels down to their caravan in the south of France for a well-deserved rest.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04But in the summer of 2010, disaster struck.
0:15:04 > 0:15:10On my birthday, 15th of June, we got notified that there was a huge flood in the area
0:15:10 > 0:15:16- and the caravan, everything, had been lost.- The family were set to celebrate Peter's 60th birthday,
0:15:16 > 0:15:24so undeterred, Peter went online and discovered a great deal on a villa in St Tropez called Villa Lily.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27Up popped this wonderful villa owned by a Conrad Bull,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31sent him an email, next morning, had an email back saying, "It is available."
0:15:31 > 0:15:35Peter thought it was strange the villa was still available,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38but Conrad Bull had a plausible explanation.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42One of his friends had said he'd like to have it for the whole season,
0:15:42 > 0:15:46but with the banking crisis, the guy had been made redundant
0:15:46 > 0:15:50and he was left with the villa unrented for the season,
0:15:50 > 0:15:52so literally, I was his first bite.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56Peter paid just over £6,000 for two weeks.
0:15:56 > 0:16:02Everything was ready for a great family holiday and Conrad Bull seemed like the perfect owner.
0:16:02 > 0:16:08Another email said, "My wife's going to be down there. If there's anything you'll need, let us know."
0:16:08 > 0:16:13And he said, "When you come in from the pool, can you dry your feet because there's a marble floor?
0:16:13 > 0:16:16"I don't want anybody to slip and have a nasty accident."
0:16:16 > 0:16:21I thought this was great. We were almost getting into a relationship system with him.
0:16:21 > 0:16:26We were already thinking about the following year, that we could use this guy's villa.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31It was to be the first family holiday staying in glamorous St Tropez.
0:16:31 > 0:16:37Peter's daughters Harriet and Alex travelled down to the south of France three days early.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41They were eager to get to the villa to decorate it for their dad's arrival,
0:16:41 > 0:16:44but there was a complication.
0:16:44 > 0:16:50We were really excited, thinking, "We're really close now. The villa must be just around the corner."
0:16:50 > 0:16:54The instructions said the girls should look out for metal gates.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57I'm sure they look wooden. I'm sure they're not metal.
0:16:57 > 0:17:03- Then we see these ones.- Yeah. - But it's not Villa Lily. It's Le Caladou.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06L'Orangerie. It wasn't that one.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10There were six villas located along the road, but no Villa Lily.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14The girls rang a bell on one of the villas and spoke to a maid.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18We checked the address with her on the directions
0:17:18 > 0:17:24and she said, "Yeah, this is definitely the right address, but I've never heard of Villa Lily."
0:17:24 > 0:17:29Your heart's sinking. You're hoping, "No, she's got it wrong, it must be somewhere."
0:17:29 > 0:17:33Then the girls spotted a postwoman at the bottom of the road.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37- We said, "If anyone's going to know..."- She's going to know, yeah.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42I went and spoke to her and she just looked at me and said, "I'm terribly sorry.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46"There's no such villa as Villa Lily in St Tropez."
0:17:46 > 0:17:50In desperation, Alex called her dad back in England.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54I got a phone call from my daughter on the Thursday morning,
0:17:54 > 0:18:01saying, "Dad, there's no villa here," and that's when we first realised that we'd been had.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05I think we just realised that we had booked a fake villa,
0:18:05 > 0:18:10a villa that didn't exist, by a guy that was a fake.
0:18:10 > 0:18:16The girls decamped to a cafe in the town centre and desperately tried to reach Conrad Bull.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18But there was no reply.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20He had vanished with the money.
0:18:20 > 0:18:26Determined to salvage the holiday, the family found a replacement villa in the south of Spain.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28The girls drove 1,500 miles to get there
0:18:28 > 0:18:32and it cost the family an extra £6,500.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36The whole experience caused a lot of stress and worry.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40It hit my wife especially hard. She had terrible sleepless nights.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44In total, the Whites were £12,000 out of pocket.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Later in the programme, we discover they weren't alone.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52The Whites were part of the biggest fake holiday fraud the UK has ever known
0:18:52 > 0:18:56and it was uncovered by a Sussex policewoman.
0:18:56 > 0:19:02The only way to stop this man from further crimes was to put him away.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12It's a dark, wet morning in North London
0:19:12 > 0:19:18and the MHRA enforcement team is getting ready for another raid on a suspected fake medicine dealer.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21We've got a door entry unit with us,
0:19:21 > 0:19:24a team leader and one investigator.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26And we're just shortly off on our way.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31The signal is given. Today's raid is just one of many
0:19:31 > 0:19:36during a week-long campaign against the criminals who bring fake medicines into Britain.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40Once at the property, there is no answer from the suspect's flat.
0:19:40 > 0:19:46- 'Please wait. Your call has been programmed.'- Blimey! Very posh.
0:19:46 > 0:19:52A neighbour lets the unit into the building and they make their way to the suspect's door.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57- He is refusing to open it and the officer gets ready to force entry. - Open the door, please.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59Finally, someone comes to the door.
0:19:59 > 0:20:05- Good morning.- Good morning.- I'm from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08We've got a warrant here to enter your premises.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12Danny believes there to be a large supply of fake drugs at the address.
0:20:12 > 0:20:18Any product that could end up on a pharmacy shelf is of great interest to us, so that's why we're here.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23Danny's suspicions are confirmed. Inside the flat, fake drugs are found
0:20:23 > 0:20:25and a man is led away to the police van.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29Danny explains why fake medicines are such a concern.
0:20:29 > 0:20:35When counterfeiters make these tablets, it's very much like baking a cake.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40They put all the ingredients in a big hopper, but these aren't pharmacists.
0:20:40 > 0:20:46Sometimes they do it in a cement mixer, so you end up with something that is pure active ingredient,
0:20:46 > 0:20:50or the other end of the cake mix which is just pure bulking powder.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54You just don't know when you open a pack of these counterfeits
0:20:54 > 0:20:58whether one tablet will do any good or the next one will kill you.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02The team carry out the haul, ready to be tested and then destroyed.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06We've probably got in excess of 1,000 counterfeit tablets here,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10several hundred unlicensed products.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14The total value of all this is probably in excess of £15,000.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17It's a good day's work for Danny and the team.
0:21:17 > 0:21:23The drugs are seized and another online dealer selling fake medicines is stopped.
0:21:23 > 0:21:28Intelligence for raids often comes from investigators working within legitimate drugs companies.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Phil Cottrell is director of security at Sanofi.
0:21:31 > 0:21:37He and his team conduct test purchases online which lead to arrests of those manufacturing
0:21:37 > 0:21:43and supplying the drugs. Today he's investigating a worrying new trend among the counterfeiters.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45What we have here are some packages
0:21:45 > 0:21:51which have arrived via an undercover agent. We've made a purchase which we believed
0:21:51 > 0:21:56was coming from China, and we were quite surprised to see that the labels
0:21:56 > 0:22:00show it had arrived from Germany. Deutsche Post.
0:22:00 > 0:22:07Phil knows the package actually came from China because he paid dollars to a Western Union address in China.
0:22:07 > 0:22:13- There are also tell-tale signs on the packaging.- The organisation behind the counterfeiting
0:22:13 > 0:22:19have been able to circumvent the Customs controls by labelling it as if it had come from Germany.
0:22:19 > 0:22:25The drugs are labelled Plavix, a prescription-only drug for serious heart conditions,
0:22:25 > 0:22:31but Phil can see the difference between fakes and genuine tablets. They will be sent for testing.
0:22:32 > 0:22:38Just back from the lab are some fake Stilnox tablets Phil also ordered online, again from China.
0:22:38 > 0:22:44Stilnox is a powerful prescription-only drug for psychiatric problems and insomnia,
0:22:44 > 0:22:50but these fakes, destined for the UK market, have some worrying additional ingredients.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54When you look closely at the tablets inside the blister strips,
0:22:54 > 0:22:58you can see that there's some black dust. We've had these analysed
0:22:58 > 0:23:04and I can say that this black dust is residue from a coal-fired power station
0:23:04 > 0:23:06close to the manufacturer in China.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11Clearly there are chemical compounds in that dust which are carcinogenic.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15And that is not the only dangerous thing in the tablets.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20It doesn't actually contain the real active ingredient. It contains melatonin,
0:23:20 > 0:23:26which affects the pigmentation in people's skin, as well as making them drowsy,
0:23:26 > 0:23:31so it gives the effect of a sleeping tablet, but is highly carcinogenic.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36Few people in Britain know more about fake medicines than Dr Graham Jackson. He's on a mission
0:23:36 > 0:23:41to stop people buying prescription drugs online without a prescription.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45About 80% of all drugs bought online from non-registered pharmacists
0:23:45 > 0:23:48without a prescription are fake.
0:23:48 > 0:23:54- Dr Jackson believes few people grasp the scale of the problem.- This is a multi-billion-pound industry.
0:23:54 > 0:24:00It's run by drug gangs, partly Russian, partly Chinese, partly Indian,
0:24:00 > 0:24:05and it is actually now more profitable to counterfeit Viagra and all those other things
0:24:05 > 0:24:07than to sell heroin.
0:24:07 > 0:24:13Even life-saving medicines are being faked and sold as real around the world.
0:24:13 > 0:24:19We know that 50% of sub-Saharan anti-malarial preparations are fake.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24We knew that we were getting fake Tamiflu at the time of the epidemic.
0:24:24 > 0:24:31We know there are fake oncology drugs so people are not getting the cancer treatment they think.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33The scale of this problem is huge.
0:24:33 > 0:24:39Counterfeiters who knowingly deprive people of life-saving medication,
0:24:39 > 0:24:42there's no difference from manslaughter.
0:24:42 > 0:24:48Dr Jackson believes that if people knew what had been found in drugs bought from online pharmacies
0:24:48 > 0:24:53not requiring a prescription, they'd be less likely to use them.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57Pure amphetamine, which could kill a heart patient, brick dust, talcum powder,
0:24:57 > 0:25:04arsenic, various other drugs. Then the tablet is made shiny with road paint or polish.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09And then you ingest it. You're going to take one of these?
0:25:09 > 0:25:11You must be absolutely mad.
0:25:11 > 0:25:16But what if these fake drugs weren't just available online?
0:25:16 > 0:25:23What if they were getting into the NHS? As one of Dr Jackson's heart patients proves, they are.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27- All right, aren't they? - Yes, they're fine.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31Doreen Wilson is 80 and lives with her husband Lawrence in Kent.
0:25:31 > 0:25:38Due to a replacement heart valve, she has to take a daily dose of a cholesterol-lowering drug, Lipitor.
0:25:38 > 0:25:44Without it, cholesterol would quickly clog her arteries, causing a heart attack,
0:25:44 > 0:25:48but one day the couple realised Doreen's drugs were fake.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52I happened to read that a batch of these tablets
0:25:52 > 0:25:58had been put onto the market with a particular false serial number.
0:25:58 > 0:26:05I thought I would check with my wife's tablets.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09Much to my horror, when I checked them
0:26:09 > 0:26:14I could hardly believe my eyes. The same batch number was embossed
0:26:14 > 0:26:18into the metallic covering of the tablets.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22- Doreen's reaction was understandable.- I panicked a bit
0:26:22 > 0:26:26because I thought, having taken some,
0:26:26 > 0:26:30have they done harm that I couldn't reverse?
0:26:30 > 0:26:36You just wonder how many people don't bother to check that recall number
0:26:36 > 0:26:38and are taking them.
0:26:38 > 0:26:44Like many of us do, Lawrence had picked up Doreen's prescription from his local chemist.
0:26:44 > 0:26:50Little did he know the fake drugs had found their way onto pharmacy shelves across Britain.
0:26:50 > 0:26:56Fortunately, Doreen had taken the tablets for just a week and suffered no adverse reaction,
0:26:56 > 0:27:01but had Lawrence not read the paper that day, he may never have discovered
0:27:01 > 0:27:05that his wife's life-saving drugs were fake.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09If one attempts to buy them from email, one might expect
0:27:09 > 0:27:15this sort of thing to happen, but when you buy them from a reputable pharmacy
0:27:15 > 0:27:17it's frightening.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22Mrs Wilson was lucky in that the drug company identified the problem
0:27:22 > 0:27:26and Mr Wilson checked the batch number. If they hadn't spotted it,
0:27:26 > 0:27:31their cholesterol would have gone back up again. Elevated cholesterol
0:27:31 > 0:27:35can increase the chances of getting heart attacks and strokes.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39These people who are counterfeiting this are threatening people's lives.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44It is estimated that 1% of all drugs on the NHS are fake.
0:27:44 > 0:27:50In April, 2011 this man, Peter Gillespie, a chartered accountant from Windsor, Berkshire,
0:27:50 > 0:27:56was jailed for eight years for importing two million doses of counterfeit versions
0:27:56 > 0:28:00of cancer, heart disease and psychiatric drugs
0:28:00 > 0:28:07and packaging them to look like the real thing. 100,000 doses were given to patients across Britain.
0:28:12 > 0:28:19Half a billion pounds' worth of fraudulent motor insurance claims are detected annually in the UK.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23Cash for crash is a serious problem. It involves staging fake accidents
0:28:23 > 0:28:29and then making fraudulent insurance claims. It drives premiums up for honest policy holders
0:28:29 > 0:28:36and puts other motorists at risk. One gang who made £2 million from fake crash claims
0:28:36 > 0:28:40were jailed for a total of 12 years at Southwark Crown Court.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44The ringleader Samsul Haq received five years in prison.
0:28:45 > 0:28:52But on an autumn afternoon in Liverpool, something even more extraordinary was about to unfold.
0:28:52 > 0:28:58A collision took place between a car and a busy Arriva bus on the popular Huyton to Liverpool bus route.
0:28:58 > 0:29:04Onboard CCTV appears to show the bus driving into the back of the vehicle.
0:29:04 > 0:29:09The driver and his passengers filed substantial personal injury claims,
0:29:09 > 0:29:14which were passed to Arriva's insurance team, but senior investigator Valda Grad
0:29:14 > 0:29:16noticed something suspicious.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19When I watched the footage back,
0:29:19 > 0:29:25there was no reason for the car to have stopped where it did. It just suddenly brakes.
0:29:25 > 0:29:30There was no road to the right. Then a recovery truck arrived quickly,
0:29:30 > 0:29:35put the vehicle on the pickup truck and drove off, within minutes.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37It all looked rather strange.
0:29:37 > 0:29:44Sensing the accident might be fake, Valda decided to check whether anyone involved knew each other.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47She used social networking sites.
0:29:47 > 0:29:52When I looked on Facebook I found that there were matches between the people in the car
0:29:52 > 0:29:55and the recovery truck driver.
0:29:55 > 0:30:02Sensing a scam, Valda contacted Merseyside Police and fraud specialist Mike Moran investigated.
0:30:02 > 0:30:09Reviewing the CCTV, Mike spotted yet more suspicious behaviour, but this time by the bus driver.
0:30:09 > 0:30:16I could clearly see him before the journey commenced make a number of calls on a mobile telephone.
0:30:16 > 0:30:23Further on, the CCTV cameras clearly showed the car being allowed out by the bus driver for no good reason.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27Mike drove on with the investigation and interviewed everyone involved.
0:30:27 > 0:30:32He began with the bus driver, but his account didn't match the CCTV.
0:30:32 > 0:30:38When I interviewed him, I was concerned as he was almost making out the collision was his fault.
0:30:38 > 0:30:43I thought that would be unusual for a professional driver.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47Next Mike interviewed pick-up truck driver Anthony Morgan.
0:30:47 > 0:30:54He told me that he'd been on a job in the area and had to return an item of property to a customer,
0:30:54 > 0:31:00but when I asked them for further details of this, he was unable to provide me with the answers.
0:31:00 > 0:31:07Both men also denied knowing each other. Finally, Mike interviewed the driver of the car, Ryan Forman.
0:31:07 > 0:31:13He was unable to give any explanation as to why his car crashed into the bus.
0:31:13 > 0:31:19I also asked whether or not he knew the other drivers and he denied this.
0:31:19 > 0:31:24Unconvinced, Mike applied for permission to check the phone records of the men.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28They revealed all three had been in contact prior to the accident.
0:31:28 > 0:31:34In the weeks leading up to the crash, all parties had been in communication with one another
0:31:34 > 0:31:40- by text messages and phone calls. - In fact, bus driver Philip Ledham had been in contact with
0:31:40 > 0:31:46the driver of the car 28 times that morning. Mike had no doubt it was a fake bus crash,
0:31:46 > 0:31:52an audacious plot to make tens of thousands of pounds. All three men were arrested.
0:31:52 > 0:31:59I was very surprised that the driver was involved and I was told that our driver rang the pick-up driver.
0:31:59 > 0:32:05A judge at Liverpool Crown Court ruled the bus driver had failed in his duty to his passengers
0:32:05 > 0:32:10and sentenced him to two years in prison. The other two men were given 18 months.
0:32:10 > 0:32:15Simon Mills is the Finance Director of Arriva. Had the fakery been a success,
0:32:15 > 0:32:19he estimated it would have cost the company a small fortune.
0:32:19 > 0:32:24Had this claim been successful, Arriva would have lost approximately £100,000
0:32:24 > 0:32:27in claims and damages.
0:32:27 > 0:32:33Arriva are adopting a tough stance on any future bus crash for cash scams.
0:32:33 > 0:32:39We will, in conjunction with the police and with the use of CCTV and other analytical means, pursue
0:32:39 > 0:32:44the people that are attempting to defraud the business to its ultimate end.
0:32:50 > 0:32:55Earlier in the programme, we saw how the Whites arrived in St Tropez
0:32:55 > 0:33:00to discover the holiday villa they'd paid £6,000 to stay at didn't exist,
0:33:00 > 0:33:03but they weren't alone.
0:33:03 > 0:33:10In May, 2009, Christine Shortland and her family paid almost £4,000 for an online ski holiday
0:33:10 > 0:33:12in Verbier, Switzerland.
0:33:12 > 0:33:19I thought the people were incredibly professional, well laid out emails, very to the point, direct, polite.
0:33:19 > 0:33:26I dealt with a chap called Jeremy, who sounded like a well-heeled English chap from London.
0:33:26 > 0:33:32One week before they were due to fly, Christine's friend called with bad news.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34The website had been shut down.
0:33:34 > 0:33:40My friends called to say, "We've been scammed." I just was in absolute shock.
0:33:40 > 0:33:46Never did we think that this was anything other than on the up and up.
0:33:46 > 0:33:52Christine and her family lost their £4,000 and never heard from Jeremy again.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Way back in 2007,
0:33:54 > 0:34:00Jonathan Toop had paid a Christian Bulley 1,500 euros
0:34:00 > 0:34:04for his family to stay at the Maison Olive, again advertised online.
0:34:04 > 0:34:09We pressed the buzzer and the address was a flat.
0:34:09 > 0:34:14And an American lady was staying there. Clearly it was a fraud.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16We felt pretty sick, angry.
0:34:16 > 0:34:23Two other families had booked into the same fake villa that week. Once again, everyone lost their money.
0:34:23 > 0:34:29But all these fake holidays were the work of one fraudster, as one policewoman was about to discover.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33Tracey Dixon is a Detective Constable with Sussex Police.
0:34:33 > 0:34:40She was assigned a case in which it was initially thought just six families were sold fake holidays.
0:34:40 > 0:34:44She was about to discover it was hundreds. In several cases,
0:34:44 > 0:34:49the fraudster stupidly used his real name, Carlo Bulley.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52Having obtained an order to examine the fraudster's bank account,
0:34:52 > 0:34:58it revealed Bulley had duped hundreds of holidaymakers from all over the world.
0:34:58 > 0:35:05They came from America, Australia, Africa, Russia, Asia, most European countries.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09He had used multiple aliases to sell his fake villas online.
0:35:09 > 0:35:14James Meek, Richard Ingall, Richard East-Rigby,
0:35:14 > 0:35:21Caspar Bulley, Conrad Bulley, Bull, he used the name Bull, he'd used the name Caroline Bulley.
0:35:21 > 0:35:27In the case of Christine Shortland, he had used his girlfriend's bank account, registered as JM Kettunen,
0:35:27 > 0:35:30and adopted the name Jeremy Kettunen.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34Bulley was making vast sums from his luxury villas,
0:35:34 > 0:35:41charging would-be holidaymakers as much as £16,000 for two weeks, but the villas didn't exist
0:35:41 > 0:35:45and the victims were left stranded in foreign countries.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49Some people had travelled thousands of miles to these destinations.
0:35:49 > 0:35:56They had nowhere to stay, they had young families, some were disabled, there were honeymoon couples...
0:35:56 > 0:35:59The race was on to find the villa con man.
0:35:59 > 0:36:04We felt at that point we were only a week behind him,
0:36:04 > 0:36:09but that changed throughout the case. At times it was like months,
0:36:09 > 0:36:13then eventually down to weeks, days, then minutes.
0:36:13 > 0:36:18As Tracey desperately tried to locate the fraudster,
0:36:18 > 0:36:21the banks promised to notify her of payments into his account,
0:36:21 > 0:36:27but they failed to do so. Frustrated, she decided to freeze those accounts,
0:36:27 > 0:36:33and those of his parents whose accounts he was also using to launder victims' money.
0:36:33 > 0:36:37The information came back that he'd been travelling in Kent.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41We had footage of him at an ATM taking out the victims' money.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48Bulley then visited the Crown Hotel in Woodbridge for a champagne meal with his parents.
0:36:48 > 0:36:55CCTV shows him in the bar earlier in the evening. For the first time, he was in Tracey's sights
0:36:55 > 0:36:59and he was about to get a nasty surprise.
0:36:59 > 0:37:05When they went to pay, Carlo Bulley used his card initially and, of course, it got declined.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08Then his parents used their card and it got declined.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12The net was closing in on Britain's biggest fake holiday fraudster.
0:37:12 > 0:37:18There was a lot of satisfaction at that point to make him realise what it's like
0:37:18 > 0:37:23to be stranded and how he had made his victims feel.
0:37:23 > 0:37:29The next day, Carlo's father's car was stopped in Essex and his parents arrested,
0:37:29 > 0:37:33but Carlo was nowhere to be seen. Tracey raced up to interview them.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37It transpires that their son owed them thousands and thousands
0:37:37 > 0:37:45and they assumed that he was legitimately letting villas, as he had a business.
0:37:45 > 0:37:50With his elderly parents in custody, Carlo Bulley still refused to turn himself in.
0:37:50 > 0:37:57But then Tracey and her team had a breakthrough. New victims led them to a new alias, Colin Moore,
0:37:57 > 0:38:03and an account in that name. Financial checks revealed a cash card being used in the Cardiff area.
0:38:03 > 0:38:10I made a phone call to the card company who them told me he'd literally just used the card
0:38:10 > 0:38:1415 minutes previous in a Tesco Express in Mermaid Quay.
0:38:14 > 0:38:19We were aware that he'd purchased a fish pie and some broccoli and cigarettes,
0:38:19 > 0:38:25so I was really excited at that point because I'd never been that close to him.
0:38:25 > 0:38:27Imagine, my heart was racing.
0:38:27 > 0:38:33CCTV shows Bulley walking through the town centre with two friends holding the Tesco bag.
0:38:33 > 0:38:38Tracey contacted Cardiff CID and they rushed down to Tesco Express.
0:38:38 > 0:38:43Comparing the photos we had of him to the footage, they then said it was our man.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47Tracey briefed Cardiff CID and staff at the Tesco.
0:38:47 > 0:38:52Should Bulley return, they were to call 999. Everyone waited.
0:38:52 > 0:38:58Later that evening he did return and luckily the same staff were on duty and they recognised him.
0:38:58 > 0:39:05A quick-thinking manager in Tesco Express asked a member of staff to put a coat on
0:39:05 > 0:39:08and follow Bulley out of the shop.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14And they followed him to a pub in Mermaid Quay.
0:39:14 > 0:39:19The police were notified where he was and Carlo Bulley was arrested.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22The infamous villa con man had been caught out by a fish pie.
0:39:22 > 0:39:29Myself and the financial investigator were ecstatic. We'd worked really hard on this case
0:39:29 > 0:39:36and we knew the only way to stop this man from further crimes was to put him away.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38Carlo Bulley was jailed for 4½ years.
0:39:38 > 0:39:45He pleaded guilty to cheating 116 families out of more than £200,000,
0:39:45 > 0:39:49but Tracey believes hundreds more suffered at his hands.
0:39:49 > 0:39:54We are aware that there probably were a lot more victims.
0:39:54 > 0:40:00And a lot more money that was taken over a longer period of time.
0:40:00 > 0:40:05For those who dealt with Bulley, each has their own impression.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07It's a perfect international crime.
0:40:07 > 0:40:13A very plausible, very charming con man. An old-fashioned con man.
0:40:13 > 0:40:19Not only was he taking their money, he was allowing them to travel and then be stranded.
0:40:19 > 0:40:23It was almost like one of the worst crimes I've ever dealt with.
0:40:28 > 0:40:35Earlier in the programme, we saw the MHRA engage in a series of raids across Britain.
0:40:35 > 0:40:37Police!
0:40:40 > 0:40:47We saw them join forces with the UK Border Agency to intercept parcels entering Britain.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50Quite a lot of counterfeit Viagra.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54And we learned the scale of fake medicines bought online in Britain.
0:40:54 > 0:40:59About 80% of all drugs bought online from non-registered pharmacists are fake.
0:40:59 > 0:41:05All this was part of Operation Pangea, an international week of action across 80 countries
0:41:05 > 0:41:11to combat the online sales of counterfeit medicines. The campaign has been a huge success
0:41:11 > 0:41:15as Nimo Ahmed, Head of Enforcement at the MHRA, explains.
0:41:15 > 0:41:22As far as the UK was concerned, we seized 1.2 million doses worth approximately £2½ million.
0:41:22 > 0:41:27And working with the Metropolitan Police we had over 12,5000 websites closed down.
0:41:27 > 0:41:34There were 16 raids across the country and some important but worrying seizures.
0:41:34 > 0:41:40We had a very successful raid in Brighton. As well as 90,000 doses of unlicensed medicines,
0:41:40 > 0:41:45we found a stun gun, a crossbow, we also found knuckledusters, knives,
0:41:45 > 0:41:50which just gives you a bit of an idea of the people behind this.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54There is huge consumer pressure to buy medicines online.
0:41:54 > 0:42:00Research suggests a quarter of all spam emails are trying to promote counterfeit medicine.
0:42:00 > 0:42:05However, the experts have some straightforward advice.
0:42:05 > 0:42:11Our advice as the MHRA is that people should not buy prescription-only medicines online.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15The safest way to buy medicines is by going to visit your doctor.
0:42:15 > 0:42:21As soon as you go online, you start taking that risk of buying medicines from websites
0:42:21 > 0:42:25which really don't care about what they supply you with.
0:42:25 > 0:42:31I would counsel against using any pharmacy on the internet, other than a truly regulated one.
0:42:31 > 0:42:37Any pharmacy willing to dispense drugs that are prescription-only without a prescription
0:42:37 > 0:42:39is immediately fake.
0:42:44 > 0:42:49That's all from Fake Britain today. Bye for now.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd