Man appears at Portsmouth court charged over supplying fake 'self-assembly' Covid-19 treatments

Portsmouth Crown Court heard the case against Frank Ludlow, 59, who was arrested by City of London Police.

He is being held in custody but was not present at his court case, which was heard remotely via Skype and teleconferencing.

Judge Timothy Mousley QC detailed the charges Ludlow faces.

Ludlow, of East Marden near Chichester, is charged with fraud by false representation in relation to a ‘Trinity’ product for ‘Covid-19/Sars antipathogenic treatment’.

Ludlow is also charged with having articles for use in fraud, the labelling and constituent products for ‘Trinity’.

Ludlow faces a charge of supplying unauthorised medicines under the Human Medicines Regulations, and attempting to supply the ‘self assembling kits’.

A fifth count alleges possessing an unauthorised medical product, and a sixth alleges assembling unauthorised medical products.

The final two charges against him allege acquiring criminal property in relation to the money he ‘generated or would have generated’.

The defendant is due to go on trial for around five days on August 17.

Officers from the City of London Police’s Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) arrested Ludlow in a post office near his home on March 20, police previously said.

US customs officials intercepted a package on March 18 when they found 60 Covid-19 kits labelled as ‘anti-pathogenic treatment’ heading to the UK.

Officers said 300 treatment kits and an estimated 20 litres of chemicals were found at Ludlow’s home.

The MHRA was alerted and police stopped 60 fake treatment kits from being sent from a post office to France, the US, and other parts of the UK, City of London Police previously said.

It comes as the NHS has started work to set up a testing centre at Tipner West off the M275 in Portsmouth, with the capability to test 400 care staff a day.