A doctor known as the “King of Viagra” was told he would be jailed after pleading guilty to being part of a global conspiracy to sell fake medicines.

Dr George Patino, 48, sold thousands of counterfeit tablets, mainly through the internet, to customers across the world. A court heard that he was taking up to 200 orders a day for medicines, including Viagra.

Patino stood trial last year with other members of a gang who were convicted of smuggling copies of the impotence drug and medicines to treat baldness from illicit factories in China, Pakistan and Asia.

The jury failed to reach a verdict on the charges against Patino and he was due to appear for a retrial this week but entered a guilty plea at Kingston Crown Court yesterday to a charge of conspiring to sell counterfeit Viagra. He will be sentenced next week.

The court was read a number of emails from customers complaining that the tablets had no effect. Patino deposited more than £1.3 million into a Singapore bank account. He pleaded guilty on the basis that his criminality netted him $237,000 (£133,000).

Patino, who qualified as a doctor in 1994, is a Mexican citizen. Investigators from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency arrested him at Heathrow in 2005.

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