Guyanese sentenced, fined in US over role in global HIV test kit theft scheme

The Department of Justice says a Kenyan national and a Guyanese national have been charged in South Carolina after an investigation into stolen HIV test kits and other health commodities meant for Kenya.
United States (US) Attorney Bryan Stirling for the District of South Carolina says Eric Mwangi, 40, of Kenya, and his company started systematically stealing HIV test kits from a $650 million USAID-funded programme, the KEMSA Medical Commodities Program, meant to provide care and treatment in Kenya.
Prosecutors say Mwangi started to sell the medical supplies meant for Kenya to Davendra Rampersaud, 42, of Guyana, and his company, Caribbean Medical Supplies, Inc, making $177,000 between 2015 and 2019. Rampersaud obtained a fraudulent “Letter of Authority” to operate as an authorised distributor in 2015.
Mwangi was arrested in 2021 by Kenyan officials on theft and fraud charges. He faces up to 20 years on various American charges. He is awaiting trial in Kenya.
Rampersaud was sentenced in a Charleston federal courtroom and pleaded guilty to conspiracy and stealing or converting health commodities that were paid for by USAID.
Judge Richard Gergel sentenced Rampersaud to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay an $84,000 fine.
“This was an incredibly complicated investigation, spanning years and an ocean,” Stirling said. “These defendants jeopardised a vital public health mission and caused a significant loss to the American taxpayers.”
The Office of the Inspector General for the US Agency for International Development investigated this case.
Assistance was provided by the Office of International Affairs, the Department of State’s Regional Security Offices in Nairobi, Kenya, and Georgetown, Guyana, US Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Sean Kittrell and Dean Secor. (Live 5 News WCSC)