Baroness Mone has claimed she is being “scapegoated and vilified” after it emerged her husband’s company is on the brink of collapse, a day before a ruling in the government’s £140 million Covid compensation claim against it.
Mone, who is on leave of absence from the House of Lords, was “active” in discussions that led to the Department of Health paying £122 million to PPE Medpro for allegedly unsuitable medical equipment during the pandemic, the High Court was told in June.
The lingerie entrepreneur initiated discussions with the department for the company to supply 25 million surgical gowns made in China that turned out not to be sterile, the court was told.
Mone, 53, initially denied benefiting from the deal to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) but, with her husband, Douglas Barrowman, 60, was later reported to have received £65 million. An application to appoint administrators to take over the running of PPE Medpro was filed on Tuesday, days after the company announced it had net assets of £666,025.
Mrs Justice Cockerill will give a judgment in the government’s case on Wednesday morning. If the company loses, government lawyers are likely to consider pursuing Mone and her husband for the compensation.
