Two people could face extradition to the United States after being accused of defrauding health programmes out of millions of dollars by providing cancer drugs not approved by a federal agency.
Sukhi Ghuman, 48, of Syerston Hall near Newark, and his ex-wife Kiranjit Ghuman, 48, are also being sought to stand trial in the US on separate drug smuggling charges.
Prosecutors on behalf of the US government allege the pair told US federal health insurance program Medicare they were providing approved drugs, but provided cheaper ones and made profit on the difference.
The extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court is set to last five days.
Mr Ghuman previously told the BBC he strongly denied any wrongdoing and said he was trying to help patients who couldn’t afford cancer treatment.
He has also disputed the allegation he made money from it.
A warrant was issued by the District Court of the Southern District of California in San Diego for the pair’s arrest in October 2023.
Peter Caldwell KC, on behalf of the US government, said an investigation between September 2019 and April 2023 alleged the pair fraudulently obtained millions of dollars from Medicare and other health insurance plans in the United States.
The prosecution alleged they did this by obtaining cheap, unapproved chemotherapy and other drugs from overseas and using them on cancer patients at oncology clinics they controlled in California and Arizona. Investigators also said some of the medicine was out of date.