A MAN has been sentenced to ten months’ suspended jail sentence and 170 hours unpaid work, after he pleaded guilty to making fake Covid-19 treatment kits and posting them around the world from Petersfield post office.

Frank Ludlow, 59, of East Marden, Chichester, pleaded guilty to attempting to supply an unauthorised medicinal product, possessing an unauthorised medicinal product and assembling an unauthorised product.

Ludlow was sentenced to a ten-month suspended sentence on July 9 at Portsmouth Crown Court.

Ludlow was first arrested on Friday, March 20 after a joint investigation by the City of London Police, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The case originated when the US Customs and Border Protection Agency in Los Angeles intercepted a package on March 18, containing 60 separate Covid-19 treatment kits labelled as ‘Anti-Pathogenic treatment’, which were sent from the UK.

The US FDA determined the product to be an unapproved drug, based on the labelling and directions for use and alerted the MHRA in the UK.

The case was passed to a specialist anti-counterfeit unit within the City of London Police, the national lead force for fraud, at 1pm on March 20.

Less than four hours later, officers went to Petersfield post office to ask if staff had seen anyone matching a description of the person who had been sending the packages.

And remarkably, the court heard, while officers were talking to staff, Ludlow walked in with 60 more packages addressed to France, Shoreham and New York.

Ludlow was arrested on the spot, and appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court the next day and was remanded in custody.

Ludlow made approximately £12,000 from selling the fake kits online, which sold for between £1 and £100, but cost only £1 to make.

The kits contained hydrogen peroxide concentration of 6.5 per cent (v/v); potassium thiocyanate, ascorbic acid, an unknown enzyme as well as bee pollen.

During the search of Ludlow’s home address, officers from the City of London Police discovered 300 more treatment kits and an estimated 20 litres of chemicals used in the production of the fake kits.

Detective Chief Superintendent Clinton Blackburn, from the City of London Police, said: “The swift, joined-up action taken by police and our regulatory partners across the globe shows there are no boundaries to our work in fighting fraud, protecting the public and bringing criminals to justice, even during these unprecedented times.”