Four jailed over £6m NHS contract fraud have sentences cut

Four men who were jailed over a £6m NHS contract fraud - described as "outrageous" by investigators - have had their prison terms reduced by a year.

Gavin 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 2017.

An 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 holidays.

Oricom directors Brown, 48, and Sharoudi, 41, were initially jailed for seven and eight years respectively, while Hush, 68, and Cox, 60, were jailed for eight and six years.

The first sentencing judge, Lord Arthurson said evidence given by each of the men was "self-serving, arrogant and mendacious", adding they had "subverted public trust in NHS management".

But lawyers for Sharoudi and Hush said their prison sentences were too harsh. They argued the sentences should have been served at the same time, rather than one after the other.

They said the crimes were part of a single course of behaviour, and that Lord Arthurson was wrong to treat them as separate, unrelated offences.

Lawyers for Brown said his sentence was excessive because, although he had not been convicted of fraud, he had received the same overall term as Sharoudi and Hush.

They said Brown should receive a lesser sentence than the two men who had been convicted of fraud.

When sentencing Cox, Lord Arthurson had already decided his actions were less serious than those of the others.

His lawyers told the appeal court that if the other three men had their sentences reduced, his should be reduced as well, to keep that difference.

In a written judgment issued on Wednesday, judge Lord Ericht and his colleague Lady Carmichael agreed with submissions made by the defence lawyers.

They reduced Sharoudi and Hush's sentences from eight years to seven years.

Brown had his sentence cut to six years, while Cox had his term cut to five years.

In the judgment, Lord Ericht made reference to the submissions made to the court by lawyers acting for Sharoudi and Hush.

He wrote: "The two appellants whose sentences were consecutive, Mr Sharoudi and Mr Hush, both appealed on the ground that the sentences should have been concurrent.

"Their counsel submitted in respect of their respective client that the sentences were all part of the same course of events and should have been concurrent.

"In our view, there is force in these submissions.

"Accordingly the judge erred in imposing a consecutive sentence."

Writing about Mr Brown, Lord Ericht said it would be unfair for his sentence to remain the same as the sentences imposed on Sharoudi and Hush, because Brown had not been convicted of fraud.

He also concluded that the sentence given to Cox was excessive.

He added: "Having reduced the sentences of the other appellants, in the interests of comparative justice we shall reduce Mr Cox's sentence on the corruption charge from six years to five years."

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.

The 16-week trial at the High Court in Glasgow in June 2025 heard how 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 and NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

One single contract was worth £3.1 million, the trial was told.

Oricom's offices were raided by investigators from NHS Scotland Counter Fraud Services in 2015 following concerns about how the deals were secured.

Brown founded Oricom in a shed in Irvine, Ayrshire in 2008 and Sharoudi later joined as a director.

Sharoudi became friends with senior health service employee Hush.

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 father.

But the court found he "ferreted about" in a "deception" to obtain false "dodgy" quotes to help the firm get the lucrative business.

In 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 Lanarkshire.

He denied giving Oricom the "heads up" with information to give them a "commercial advantage" to secure business.

It was suggested it was "not a level playing field" for other bidders.

Brown had been a guest at Cox's surprise 50th birthday party.

His "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.

Jurors heard he also got thousands of pounds worth of Barrhead Travel holiday vouchers which allowed him to go on trips to New York and Lanzarote.

Cox said he believed they were gifts to his wife – a newspaper advertising manager – from Brown's partner who she had become friends with.

He also denied ever getting a series of cash handouts from Oricom.

He 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.

In total, Hush was given £18,231 of cash bungs and gifts, while Cox was handed more than £70,000.

Brown also knew another NHS Lanarkshire telecoms official who has since died.

Among the charges was one that Oricom in effect bribed him to secure work including a near £700,000 deal.

The company is still trading.

Gordon 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."