Five men face £6.5m NHS Scotland bribery trial

Five men are to stand trial following a £6.5m corruption and bribery probe at health boards across Scotland.

The group were held after an investigation into the award of lucrative NHS contracts to an Ayrshire telecommunications firm.

Court papers list a string of accusations including taking bribes, corruption, fraud and theft.

Four of the accused men pled not guilty to the charges and one did not enter a plea ahead of a trial next year.

A hearing at Glasgow High Court heard that three men listed as directors of the Irvine-based firm Oricom Ltd are among the accused.

The charges allege Adam Sharoudi, 40, Gavin Brown, 46, and David Bailey, 46, did "acquire, use and possess" a total of £6.5m of allegedly "criminal property" paid by NHS Lothian, NHS Grampian, NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Prosecutors claim the firm illegally secured work for "the supply, installation and maintenance of telecommunication and video conferencing equipment and services" at various health board premises.

Alan Hush, 67, and Gavin Cox, 46, were also allegedly involved.

Mr Hush is listed in the court papers as telecommunications manager at NHS Lothian and then NHS Scotland video conferencing service manager.

Mr Cox is described at the time as NHS Lanarkshire head of IT and infrastructure.

Court papers list a string of accusations including taking bribes, corruption, fraud, theft and Oricom directors being given "commercially sensitive information".

The allegations span between January 2010 and August 2017.

Among the charges are claims Mr Hush was given £26,981 of London hotel stays, food, drink, cash, concert tickets, a laptop and computer software.

Prosecutors claim he was given "reward and inducement" for "causing the award of procurements" for the benefit of Oricom.

Mr Hush is said to have done something illegal with the "orders" so that they would fall into his level of "authorisation" and "prevent scrutiny" by senior bosses.

Other claims detailed are that Mr Hush alleged £1,430 worth of mobile phones were needed for NHS Lothian staff - but that he instead gave them to others.

Prosecutors further claim Oricom directors were involved in similar "corrupt practices" with Alexander Stewart, who was described as NHS Lanarkshire's telecommunications manager and is listed as since having died.

Mr Stewart is said to have been given £77,460 of money, hotels stays, hospitality and plane tickets. A relative also allegedly had a £1,400 trip to Seamill Hydro in Ayrshire paid for.

Oricom directors are also accused of bribing co-accused Mr Cox during his time at NHS Lanarkshire.

Mr Cox allegedly accepted £120,636 of similar gifts - as well as a television and wall bracket.

He also used some of the money given to pay for an "extension and landscaping" at a property in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire.

Prosecutors claim Oricom went on to secure £3.7m of work with the health board.

Another official said to have worked for both NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde was also allegedly "rewarded" in a bid to get further business for the company.

A senior employee at NHS Ayrshire and Arran health board is said to have been given items such as tickets to horse racing, an iPad and a phone with Oricom then getting work from that health board.

A trial, expected to last up to 16 weeks, has been set to begin in Glasgow in January next year.

No plea was entered on behalf of Mr Bailey while the rest of the accused men pled not guilty.