A multi-millionaire fugitive who sold a "wonder drug" as a cure for cancer is set to be extradited to France after being arrested following five months on the run.
Disgraced former Falmouth councillor David Noakes, 67, was used to a life of luxury after he made nearly £8m selling GcMaf through his company Immuno Biotech. The unlicensed human blood product may pose a significant risk to people's health.
His empire came crashing down when he was jailed for 15 months after a raid uncovered his illegal supply that experts said were dangerous for unsuspecting users ordering it in their thousands online.
He was released from HMP Wandsworth last year and launched a bizarre rant about "hard beds" and "awful food" in prison.
He is now back behind bars after Dorset Police, who have been leading the hunt, confirmed he was arrested last Wednesday in Truro after a tip-off to police.
Officers had been searching for the former drug company boss since December when he failed to report to Bournemouth Police Station while on bail as he was fighting a judge's decision to extradite him.
Noakes is now set to be extradited to France where he is subject to a European Arrest Warrant over nine alleged offences including marketing unauthorised medicines.
Noakes failed to become UKIP MP for Truro and St Austell in 2005, as well as the national leader of UKIP in 2006. He became a member of Falmouth Town Council, for the uncontested seat of Penwerris Ward, in May 2007.
He stood for a seat on the former Carrick Distict Council the same year, but failed to be elected.
He was an often outspoken and controversial member of the town council and sat on its planning and finance and general purposes committees. He was ejected in 2010 after failing to attend any meetings for six months.
Noakes went to Truro School and previously worked at Holmans of Camborne, Mount Wellington tin mine, Phillips Frith in St Austell and in six countries overseas.
Dorset Police said: "Following information received from a member of the public, he was arrested in the Truro area of Cornwall by officers from Devon and Cornwall Police on Wednesday 20 May 2020 and has been recalled to prison."
Noakes is also facing confiscation proceedings at Southwark Crown Court.
A judge was set to rule on a confiscation order to strip Noakes of £1.4m on Friday, but following his arrest proceedings have now been adjourned until June 19.
The European warrant for Noakes' arrest relates to the sale and distribution of the cancer drug GcMAF from France.
He is accused of moving his business operation to Normandy in 2015 after his UK operation was shut down following a raid by the medicines regulator.
Noakes previously hit the headlines with his bizarre rant after his release from HMP Wandsworth.
The disgraced businessman, who spent around £1m of his ill-gained proceeds on planes, moaned about the rough conditions he was forced to endure inside.
Noakes, formerly of Guernsey but then living in Dover, Kent, said: "It’s put 20 years on me. The food was awful, so was the filth.
"The prison is built in 1851. Sometimes we were locked up 23 hours a day. I desperately needed the gym initially, but couldn’t get any prison guards to unlock the cell doors. I gave up, then became too weak to use it anyway.
"My body, particularly my arms and shoulders, ache from the hard beds and pillows."
Noakes had been convicted of illegally making and distributing GcMAF globally from the UK.
Southwark Crown Court was told Guernsey-based Immuno Biotech sold the unlicensed human blood product through its website to an estimated 10,000 people - and marketed it as a cure for autism, HIV and cancer.
The supply was discovered during a raid by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) who warned the public the drug may pose a significant risk to people's health.
Noakes pleaded guilty to money laundering and manufacturing, supplying and selling an unlicensed medicine.
He was jailed in November last year for 12 months for the manufacture and sale of GcMaf with three months consecutive for money laundering.
The court previously heard that between 2011 and the MHRA raid, Immuno Biotech made £7.9m from the sale of products with Noakes spending nearly £1m of it on planes.
