LONDON: A wealthy British Indian businessman and his ex-wife are battling extradition to the US, where they face charges of smuggling unapproved medical drugs from India into the US as well as defrauding US health insurance plans such as Medicare of millions of dollars.The allegations are that chemotherapy and other drugs were given to cancer patients at medical clinics owned by Sukhjit Singh Ghuman (48) and his former wife Kiranjit Ghuman (48), in California and Arizona between 2019 and 2023 despite being foreign unapproved drugs, some of which had expired, and they were given without the patients’ knowledge.It is alleged that the pair got the clinics to bill Medicare and other health insurance providers as though more expensive drugs approved by the US FDA were given to the cancer patients, pocketing the difference for financial gain. One of their oncology clinics also allegedly purchased FDA-approved drugs from US medical wholesalers and resold them without a proper licence.The pair, who recently divorced and live in Nottinghamshire, appeared at Westminster magistrates’ court last week to contest their extradition. Psychiatrists gave evidence that both suffered from depression and might take their own lives if extradited to the US.Ben Cooper KC, representing Sukhjit, claimed there was “neglect of inmates” in US prisons and sometimes water was denied, and inmates drank from toilets. He claimed Sukhjit could face extortion from gangs in US jails and there was a lack of protection from staff.US lawyer for prisoner rights Deborah Golden said Sukhjit could be targeted inside because of his wealth or Sikh religion.US lawyer Sara Norman claimed Sukhjit would be made to shower and use the toilet in front of other inmates, which would amount to a breach of Article 3 of the ECHR.Amanda Bostock, representing Kiranjit, said Kiranjit “was a peripheral party”, not a decision-maker in the business, and she had simply shared a bank account with her former husband, so seeking to extradite her was “oppressive”.Peter Caldwell KC, representing the USA, said: “The US takes its responsibilities for the care of its prisoners seriously and can be relied upon. A suicide risk is not inevitable. They imported drugs from unregulated manufacturers and took profits from Medicare and acted as wholesalers without a licence. Kiranjit and Sukhijit controlled those clinics. They were charged jointly in the US and nothing has been said about the lesser role of one of them.”
