A FORMER nightclub host who laundered more than £800,000 from the sale of unlicensed erectile dysfunction drugs ​has been jailed.

Mo Phipps was sentenced to three years and four months in connection with the sale of the medication, which is not authorised for use in the UK.

The 35-year-old received payments of more than £810,000 from a website selling Kamagra - an Indian sex performance pill.

Phipps, from Haywards Heath, claimed he was working for a "Mr Big" - and told the court it was more than his life was worth to reveal the identity of the crime boss.

Judge Janet Waddicor said Phipps funded a dissolute and hedonistic life partly with funds from the sex pill business.

She said: “I’m sure Phipps is not the brains of this operation, but he was well aware significant criminal activity was taking place and he was more than willing to make his bank accounts available to facilitate that activity."

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Kamagra is not licensed in the UK - and the safety, effectiveness and quality of the pills are not known. 

After the sale of Kamagra was discovered in 2014, a money trail led investigators to Phipps, who had accounts under the name Adam Freeman.

James Cramp, of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), told the court: “Our financial investigators see who’s behind the transactions.”

“When we identify the people, we pursue a warrant,”

Phipps told the court he was in the grip of a £900-a-week cocaine habit when he started laundering money.

He took out bank loans and accepted payments for the website, he also made regular withdrawals of up to £500 in cash from his accounts.

Phipps denied making any money from the business despite bank records showing that in total he took more than £160,000 out of one of the bank accounts.

The court heard that when police asked to see his bank records, he claimed his dog had eaten his laptop.

When asked about the use of a fake identity, Phipps claimed he had changed his name to get away from an ex-girlfriend.

Phipps appeared at Lewes Crown Court where he admitted three counts of money laundering between 2012 and 2016.

After the case, John Werhun, specialist prosecutor for organised crime at the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “A significant amount of money moved through Phipps’ bank accounts, and it is clear he was laundering the proceeds of the sale of illicit medicines.

“Phipps thought he could evade detection by using a different name and various bank accounts, but evidence presented in court proved he was responsible.

“The illicit sale of medicines is extremely dangerous - and we will prosecute these cases wherever our legal tests are met.”

In the UK, medications are only granted licences if strict safety and quality standards are met. 

The MHRA is one of the organisations which works to ensure any medicine approved for treating people in the UK is as safe as possible.

Andy Morling, the MHRA's deputy director of criminal enforcement, added: “It is a criminal offence to sell controlled, unlicensed or prescription-only medicines without appropriate authorisation.

“In this case, the individual laundered funds from the illegal sale of unlicensed erectile dysfunction medicines on an illegally operating website.

"These medicines have not been authorised for use by the MHRA and their safety, effectiveness and the quality of their manufacture is unknown.

“My advice to the public is to only buy medicines from a reputable source such as a registered pharmacy."