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Daily Record
14 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Record
NHS kept using firm behind £6m corruption scandal for three years
Directors Adam Sharoudi, 41, and Gavin Brown, 48, secured major deals during a 'corrupt relationship' with NHS telecoms bosses Alan Hush, 68, and Gavin Cox, 60. The firm at the centre of a £6million NHS corruption scandal was still carrying out work for one health board three years after it was first charged. Four men were jailed for a total of 29 years in June following a major investigation into the award of lucrative NHS contracts to Ayrshire-based telecommunications firm Oricom. The probe was first revealed by the Daily Record after an NHS counter-fraud team swooped on Oricom's offices in 2015. Directors Adam Sharoudi, 41, and Gavin Brown, 48, secured major deals during a 'corrupt relationship' with NHS telecoms bosses Alan Hush, 68, and Gavin Cox, 60. Now an investigation into the contracts has revealed NHS Lothian, whose former telecoms manager Hush was jailed for eight years, carried on using the services of the firm up until March last year – paying out almost £100,000 after prosecutors were passed a dossier of evidence by fraud investigators. Craig Marriott, director of finance at NHS Lothian, said: 'NHS Lothian did not enter into any new regulated contracts with Oricom Ltd pending the prosecution outcome. 'Limited transactions continued where there was no alternative and for maintenance of systems historically supplied by Oricom Ltd, which would have had to be removed, written off or replaced otherwise. 'To do this would have disrupted operational activities as well as incurring additional costs.' More than 100 purchase orders detailing work between 2013 and 2024 amount to more than £330,000. Dozens of orders, totalling almost £97,000, were paid after the procurator fiscal was handed a report on the case. And the final two of those orders were dated after seven individuals had appeared in court for the first time in November 2021. NHS Lanarkshire, whose former head of IT and infrastructure Cox was jailed for six years, confirmed it had paid Oricom £3.7million between 2012 and 2017, but terminated its second contract five years early. It said: 'An initial contract was awarded to Oricom in 2012 with a three-year term. In May 2015, a second contract was awarded to Oricom. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. 'This contract had an initial term of seven years, with options to extend for a further two years. Although it was intended to run until 2022, or potentially 2024 with extensions, the contract was terminated early on in April 2017.' NHS Lanarkshire said it was unable to comment on the contract termination as it is subject to ongoing legal proceedings. Just months after the contract was scrapped, NHS Counter Fraud Services confirmed it had passed a report to the fiscal concerning allegations dating between 2000 and 2014. And during a three-month trial earlier this year, prosecutors proved contracts to supply and maintain equipment broke rules on financial wrongdoing in the tendering process. The charges spanning between 2010 and 2015 included bribery, corruption, fraud, theft as well as others under the Proceeds of Crime Act. One stated Sharoudi and Brown did 'acquire, use and possess' £5,719,244 of 'criminal property' paid by NHS Lothian, NHS Grampian, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as well as NHS Ayrshire and Arran. Jailing the four men, Lord Arthurson said: 'The reach and character of the corruption and, in particular, the corrupt relationship engaged by all of you was on a grand scale.' NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde confirmed it had not awarded any contracts directly to Oricom Ltd but it provided services to the health board as a third party via the national IT contract managed by NHS National Services Scotland. The value was over £119,000 for a three-year term between 2015 and 2018, but the service was terminated in June 2017, weeks after NHS Lanarkshire ditched its contract. NHS Grampian and Ayrshire and Arran said it did not hold any direct contracts with the firm. Brown and Sharoudi were sacked as Oricom directors after their convictions. The Record has contacted the firm for comment.
New York Times
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
From a Year's Worth of Sidewalk Debris, 365 Works of Art
On a morning in late June, the artist Yuji Agematsu, eyes down, walked along Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, looking for things in the dirt and crab grass that no one else would notice: lollipop sticks, bottlecaps, broken glass. 'So many stuff,' he said. 'So many disposable dental floss, very iconic object in this district. By the seating area, so many candy wrappers, ice cream sticks.' He patted the ground affectionately. 'I'm interested in fragments. Each reminds of what used to be.' Since 1985, Agematsu has been foraging daily on the streets of New York, finding castoffs he eventually transforms in his studio in Dumbo into a little sculpture that he encloses in the cellophane wrapper of a cigarette pack. After the year ends, he places each assemblage on a shelf or in a vitrine, which is organized like a calendar to mark the day it was collected. Two years' worth are on display, on Fridays and Saturdays through the end of August, at the Harlem house of Gavin Brown, the art dealer and gallerist, where 2023 is on view, and at the Judd Foundation in SoHo, showing 2024. Like his way of working, Agematsu's art requires a slowing down. It takes time to appreciate what is driving his small, subtle compositions. He doesn't alter what he gathers. He simply makes combinations. In one grouping at Gavin Brown, two wires are stripped above the insulation, so that frayed copper filaments spread like the tops of palm trees. In another, a metallic red, green and yellow candy wrapper is folded to create a fishtail, while a bent Q-Tip rises above it like a ghostly arm. Arrayed in Lucite vitrines, these sparkling miniatures when seen from a distance might be an exhibit of Roman glass. At the Judd Foundation, the pieces rest on wooden shelves — inspired, Agematsu says, by the stripped-down furniture made by the artist Donald Judd, who bought the five-story cast-iron building in 1968. Since Judd's death in 1994, the building has been maintained by the Judd Foundation. Starting in 1996, Agematsu, who is 69, worked there as superintendent and handyman, until he quit in 2018. 'I came from another country, I came from the bottom,' he said. 'I needed the challenge to be a full-time artist.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Jailed for 29 years, four men behind 'corrosive' campaign of corruption that drained NHS of millions
Four men behind a £6.5million campaign of corruption and bribery at health boards across Scotland have been jailed for a total of 29 years. Their crimes involved the awarding of lucrative NHS contracts to an Ayrshire telecoms firm set up in a garden shed. Jurors heard details of widespread corruption, including managers being bribed into awarding large contracts with gifts worth tens of thousands of pounds. Adam Sharoudi, 41, of Motherwell, and Gavin Brown, 48, of Prestwick in Ayrshire, ran Oricom Ltd - a firm which effectively started from a shed but went on to secure major deals. The pair were able to win the contracts with the help of NHS workers Alan Hush, 68, and 60-year-old Gavin Cox, who accepted lucrative payments and gifts. All four men denied the accusations but in April were found guilty following a three-month trial at the High Court in Glasgow. Hush was jailed for eight years after being found guilty of nine charges. Cox was locked up for six years for the two charges jurors convicted him of. Sharoudi was also handed an eight year term having been convicted of seven charges and Brown was jailed for seven years for a total of six. The charges spanning between 2010 and 2015 included bribery, corruption, fraud, theft as well as others under the Proceeds of Crime Act. One stated Sharoudi and Brown did 'acquire, use and possess' a total of £5,719,244 of 'criminal property' paid by NHS Lothian, NHS Grampian, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as well as NHS Ayrshire and Arran. Judge Lord Arthurson said: 'Such is the corrosive effect of corruption upon commercial and public life, individuals such as yourselves should expect to be dealt with robustly by the courts. 'The public should expect their fellow citizens should not seek to subvert public officials in their duties. 'Such officials should note that, succumbing to bribery, will result in the handing down of significant terms. 'The reach and character of the corruption and, in particular, the corrupt relationship engaged by all of you was on a grand scale.' The court heard how Hush, of Edinburgh, received handouts including hotel stays, concert tickets, meals and a laptop for his help in getting business for Oricom, including a £750,000 contract with NHS Lothian. Cox, of Glasgow, handed Oricom information to give them a 'commercial advantage' to secure business. His 'rewards' were said to have included thousands of pounds of Barrhead Travel holiday vouchers which he spent on trips to New York and Lanzarote. The four accused all gave evidence in the case which sat for 65 days - testimony described by the judge yesterday as 'self serving, arrogant and mendacious'. The court heard how all four maintained their innocence. Hush's lawyer Keith Stewart said the jury had concluded there was a 'corrupt relationship' between Hush and Oricom carried out in 'plain sight' and based on 'budgets hotels and discounted rail fares'. Gordon Martin, defending Cox, said he was 'ashamed at the findings of guilt' as he had been 'a public servant for 31 years and rightfully proud of that service'. Sharoudi's defence KC Brian McConnachie told the hearing the NHS work carried out by Oricom was 'necessary' and it was not a 'situation of job creation' for money. He said Sharoudi had overcome a number of issues growing up to gain a first class honours degree in maths and philosophy before helping build Oricom. Tony Graham KC, defending Brown, said he was someone who had 'worked every day since he left school' providing 'employment for many others over many years'. Sharoudi and Brown have also been banned from being a company director for the next 10 years. Following the hearing, Sineidin Corrins, Deputy Procurator Fiscal for Specialist Casework at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), said: 'This was a betrayal of public trust. 'These four men colluded to create a sophisticated criminal scheme. The public will rightly be shocked by the scale of their criminality. 'The scale of this offending against our public health service is particularly egregious.' She said the men will now face separate hearings under the Proceeds of Crime Act, adding: 'This case demonstrates clearly that those who indulge in corrupt practices for their own personal gain will be brought to book regardless of the time it takes to bring offenders to justice. 'The Proceeds of Crime proceedings that will follow demonstrate our ongoing commitment to ensuring that crime does not pay and that illicitly obtained funds are recovered where possible.'
Telegraph
05-06-2025
- Telegraph
Four men jailed over £6m NHS fraud
Four men have been jailed for a total of 29 years after committing an 'outrageous' £6 million fraud against the Scottish NHS. Gavin Brown and Adam Sharoudi established an IT firm and used their connections with Gavin Cox and Alan Hush, senior health service employees, to obtain lucrative telecoms contracts, including one valued at more than £3 million. Their offences, which took place between 2010 and 2017, included bribery, corruption and other offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Hush and Sharoudi were additionally convicted of fraud. At the High Court in Glasgow on Thursday, Brown, 48, and Sharoudi, 41, were jailed for seven and eight years respectively, while Hush, 68, and Cox, 60, were jailed for eight and six years. Lord Arthurson said while sentencing that each of the men was 'self-serving, arrogant and mendacious', adding they had 'subverted public trust in NHS management'. A 16-week trial heard that Oricom, the IT firm, did 'acquire, use and possess' a total of £5,719,244 worth of 'criminal property' that was paid for by NHS Lothian, NHS Grampian, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as well as NHS Ayrshire and Arran. Luxurious handouts The firm was founded by Brown in a shed in Irvine, Ayrshire in 2008 and Sharoudi later joined as a director. Sharoudi became friends with Hush, who was telecommunications manager at NHS Lothian and then NHS Scotland video conferencing manager. Cox was head of IT and infrastructure at NHS Lanarkshire. Their crimes were uncovered by chance after the theft of two NHS-issued mobile phones, which led to thousands of text messages and emails being discovered on multiple laptops, computers and mobiles. In 2015, Oricom's offices were raided by investigators from NHS Scotland Counter Fraud Services. An investigation found Hush and Cox gave Oricom 'commercially sensitive information' in return for £88,000 worth of cash, gifts and holidays. Hush was handed Eurostar train tickets, stays at the Troy and Re Hotels in London, a laptop, an iPad, meals and concert tickets to see Paul Simon, Rufus Wainwright and Patti Smith for his part in helping Oricom secure the contracts. Cox's 'rewards' were said to include hospitality at the Scottish Grand National at Ayr, a night at the Loch Green Hotel in Troon and a meal at Elliots in Prestwick, as well as holiday vouchers that funded his trips to New York and Lanzarote. He also denied ever getting a series of cash handouts from Oricom. In total, Hush was given £18,231 of cash handouts and gifts, while Cox was handed more than £70,000. 'Manipulated' the system Gordon Young, head of NHS Scotland counter-fraud services, described their actions as 'outrageous'. 'They were in a position of trust within the NHS and they have manipulated the procurement process for their own benefit,' he said. 'We hear every single day from politicians and from people that work in the service about how hard folk are working to try and keep things going. 'The vast majority of NHS workers are honest, hardworking people who have only got their patients' and their services' best interest at heart, but these individuals have taken advantage of the system for their own benefit. Union leaders, however, said the case highlighted the lack of resources for countering NHS fraud. Matt McLaughlin, Unison Scotland's head of health, said cuts to backroom services and the use of private companies in the NHS and the wider public sector 'present opportunities for people to behave in this way'. 'I think it's absolutely right for the public to be angry and concerned,' he said.
BBC News
05-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Four jailed over 'outrageous' £6m NHS Scotland contract fraud
Four men have been jailed for a total of 29 years over a £6m NHS contract Brown and Adam Sharoudi used their connections with senior health service employees Gavin Cox and Alan Hush to obtain lucrative telecoms contracts between 2010 and investigation into Oricom Ltd, established by Brown and Sharoudi, found Hush and Cox gave the firm "commercially sensitive information" in return for £88,000 worth of cash, gifts and directors Brown, 48, and Sharoudi, 41, were jailed for seven and eight years respectively, while Hush, 68, and Cox, 60, were jailed for eight and six years. Sentencing, Lord Arthurson said each of the men were "self-serving, arrogant and mendacious", adding they had "subverted public trust in NHS management".The group's crimes were only uncovered after the theft of two NHS-issued mobile phones, which led to thousands of text messages and emails being discovered on multiple laptops, computers and mobiles. A 16-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow heard Oricom did "acquire, use and possess" a total of £5,719,244 of "criminal property" paid for by NHS Lothian, NHS Grampian, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as well as NHS Ayrshire and single contract was worth £3.1m, the trial was offices were raided by investigators from NHS Scotland Counter Fraud Services in 2015 following concerns into how the deals were secured. Brown founded Oricom in a shed in Irvine, Ayrshire in 2008 and Sharoudi later joined as a became friends with Hush, who was telecommunications manager at NHS Lothian and then NHS Scotland video conferencing manager.A text exchange between Sahroudi and Hush, who was described during the trial as "the big cheese in the NHS telecoms department, showed how the NHS manager wanted to "earn some commission".Hush claimed that had been a joke and any money he received had come from his late the court found he "ferreted about" in a "deception" to obtain false "dodgy" quotes to help the firm get the lucrative return he was handed Eurostar train tickets, stays at the Troy and Re Hotels in London, a laptop, an iPad, meals, and concert tickets to see Paul Simon, Rufus Wainwright and Patti Smith for his part in helping Oricom secure the contracts. Cox, of Cathcart, Glasgow was head of IT and infrastructure at NHS denied giving Oricom the "heads up" with information to give them a "commercial advantage" to secure was suggested it was "not a level playing field" for other had been a guest at Cox's surprise 50th birthday "rewards" were said to include hospitality at the Scottish Grand National at Ayr, a night at the Loch Green Hotel in Troon and a meal at Elliots in heard he also got thousands of pounds worth of Barrhead Travel holiday vouchers which allowed him to go on trips to New York and said he believed they were gifts to his wife – a newspaper advertising manager – from Brown's partner who she had become friends also denied ever getting a series of cash handouts from used some of the money he was given to pay for an "extension and landscaping" at a property in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire, which he claimed had been paid for using an inheritance from his father. 'Taken advantage' In total, Hush was given £18,231 of cash bungs and gifts, while Cox was handed more than £70, also knew another NHS Lanarkshire telecoms official who has since the charges was one that Oricom in effect bribed him to secure work including a near £700,000 company is still Young, head of NHS Scotland counter-fraud services, described their actions as "outrageous".He said: "They were in a position of trust within the NHS and they have manipulated the procurement process for their own benefit."We hear every single day from politicians and from people that work in the service about how hard folk are working to try and keep things going."The vast majority of NHS workers are honest hardworking people who have only got their patients and their services best interest at heart, but these individuals have taken advantage of the system for their own benefit." 'Angry and concerned' Unison Scotland's head of health, Matt McLaughlin, said the case was an indictment of the "lack of resources" put into countering fraud within the health said: "Politicians for years have been talking about cutting backroom services, cutting backroom staff to make efficiencies."I think the use of private money and private companies in the NHS and in the wider public sector present opportunities for people to behave in this way."And that's why we need strong procurement systems. I think it's absolutely right for the public to be angry and concerned." A Scottish government spokesperson said steps had been taken to "strengthen oversight and accountability" across NHS BoardsThey added: "We have reviewed procurement practices and moving toward a single national framework for business conduct to support fraud prevention and deliver greater accountability, as recommended in the Cumberlege Review."We will ensure that Scotland's NHS continues to uphold the highest standards of public service and transparency, and that the lessons of this case are learned from."
