The only speck of good news for the peer this week appears to have come in the 1.17pm race at Newcastle on Thursday, won by Monbeg Genius, a horse she bought for her husband as his “second wedding gift”.
The six-year-old gelding, bought for £80,000, was one of a number of acquisitions that Mone and her husband made in the months after they secretly received at least £65m from profits originating from PPE Medpro. In a change of direction, several of those assets are now for sale.
PPE Medpro has become the subject of a potential fraud investigation by the National Crime Agency. In April this year, NCA officers searched several addresses, including the mansion Mone and Douglas Barrowman occupy in the Isle of Man. At the time, lawyers for PPE Medpro declined to comment on the NCA investigation.
Let’s hope that the police found something seriously incriminating …
I think the National Crime Agency are investigating Baroness Mone over alleged fraud, aren’t they?
I recall reading about her private home being raided by NCA Officers to seize any relevant documents / files held by Mone and her husband.
That must have been at least 6 months ago, so I don’t know what the updated situation is - except that the Lords Commissioners for Standards have published this explanation of why they cannot publish their own findings about Mone’s Misconduct Investigation
Baroness Mone – Alleged involvement in procuring contracts for PPE Medpro leading to potential breaches of the following paragraphs of the House of Lords Code of Conduct: 9 (a), (b), (c), (d); 12 (a), (b); 16.
In accordance with paragraph 144 of the Guide to the Code of Conduct, the Commissioner is unable to finalise or publish any report into the conduct of Baroness Mone while the matter is under investigation by the police or another agency as part of a criminal investigation. Once any criminal process is complete or has ceased, the Commissioner will complete his investigation and publish his report.
Edited to Add - Sorry @Omah - when I posted this reply, I hadn’t seen that you had already replied to Azz’s post with a link about the NCA Investigation.
A LUXURY office complex in Aberdeen run by Michelle Mone has links to the same network of companies involved in the PPE scandal, it has been revealed.
Neospace, an £18 million office building, was opened by Michelle Mone and her husband Douglas Barrowman last year.
Now there are calls for Mone and her husband to reveal how the 22,000 square-foot office complex on the banks of the Dee was funded – and whether government money was involved.
The project was billed as an attempt to reinvent the modern workspace and the building contains a golf simulator, a gym complete with sauna, and a juice bar as well as offices.
Aberdeen City Council also authorised the sale of alcohol at the building until 11pm.
The government is attempting to get its money back on one of the deals, for the supply of medical gowns during the pandemic, in the High Court.
PPE Medpro said it would “rigorously” defend the claim. The company accused the government of a “cynical attempt” to recover money from suppliers who had acted in good faith and to contract specifications.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we have commenced legal proceedings in the High Court against PPE Medpro Limited for breach of contract regarding gowns delivered under a contract dated 26 June 2020. We do not comment on matters that are the subject of ongoing legal proceedings.”
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said: “After nearly a year of hiding behind a mediation process with a company linked to one of their own peers, Conservative ministers have finally been shamed into action to recover taxpayers’ money after damning revelations, public outcry and Labour pressure. Time will now tell if the shoddy contracts they drew up are sufficiently robust to retrieve the public money they carelessly handed over.”
Should not have lied, if there was nothing to hide. She said that was “not a crime” and added: “No-one deserves this.” Lying has caused more stress, which could have been avoided.
The Scottish businesswoman was made a Conservative peer by David Cameron but is no longer in the party.
Fooling nobody.
