Britain's FBI probe £3million payment into
Baroness Bra's bank account as detectives investigate lingerie tycoon over
Covid PPE scandal
The NCA is probing the transaction into Baroness
Mone's Coutts bank account
By DAN
WOODLAND
PUBLISHED:
09:28 GMT, 31 December 2023 | UPDATED: 09:37 GMT, 31 December 2023
Britain's
FBI is investigating a £3million payment that was made into Baroness Michelle
Mone's bank account amid an investigation into the Covid PPE scandal.
The
National Crime Agency (NCA) is probing the transaction which was made into the
52-year-old's Coutts bank account as part of its investigation over allegations
of fraud and bribery surrounding PPE Medpro.
PPE Medpro,
the company led by the Tory peer's husband Doug Barrowman, was awarded more
than £200 million to supply the Government with PPE during the pandemic after
she recommended it to ministers.
The NCA is
reportedly suspicious of the £3 million payment as it was made after £65
million in profits from PPE Medpro were transferred into other accounts
associated with Mr Barrowman.
If the
payment is proven to have come from these profits, it could suggest Baroness
Mone, who is widely known as 'Baroness Bra', directly benefitted from the
company, according to The Sunday Times.
Britain's FBI is investigating a £3million payment
that was made into Baroness Michelle Mone's (pictured) bank account amid an
investigation into the Covid PPE scandal
The
National Crime Agency (NCA) is probing the transaction which was made into the
52-year-old's (pictured) Coutts bank account as part of its investigation over
allegations of fraud and bribery surrounding PPE Medpro
The
National Crime Agency (NCA) is probing the transaction which was made into the
52-year-old's (pictured) Coutts bank account as part of its investigation over
allegations of fraud and bribery surrounding PPE Medpro
PPE Medpro,
the company led by the Tory peer's husband Doug Barrowman was awarded more than
£200 million to supply the Government with PPE during the pandemic after she
recommended it to ministers
As part of
its investigation, the NCA is understood to have frozen several of Ms Mone's
accounts, including one at Coutts, the private bank favoured by the royal
family. Mone and Barrowman deny any wrongdoing.
The freeze
was ordered about 12 months ago in a bid to prevent her from moving cash, The
Sunday Times previously reported.
But the
headline-prone Tory peer claims she only became aware of the freeze when she
tried to make a purchase at a petrol station.
The NCA is
investigating Baroness Mone and her husband, Doug Barrowman, 58, for alleged
fraud and bribery in relation to their involvement with the Government's
lucrative PPE contract – which the couple deny.
Baroness
Mone lobbied Michael Gove and Lord Agnew in May 2020 to secure lucrative
business for PPE Medpro.
It was then
awarded contracts to supply the NHS with medical protective equipment during
the pandemic through the 'VIP lane' to fast-track preferred partners.
PPE Medpro
received one contract, worth £81million, for facemasks and another, valued at
£122million, for medical gowns.
The deal
yielded profits of about £60million, but company is being sued by the
Government for £122million, plus costs for alleged 'breach of contract and
unjust enrichment'. PPE Medpro is defending the claim.
Lady
Michelle denied for many years that she was involved in the company and did not
declare any link to PPE Medpro on the House of Lords register of interests.
But in
November last year leaked documents from HSBC revealed that Barrowman had been
paid £65million from PPE Medpro's profits. The documents also suggested that
£29million of funds were transferred into an offshore trust in which Baroness
Mone and her children are beneficiaries.
In an
interview earlier this month, Lady Michelle admitted lying to the Press over
her links to the firm – but insisted she could not 'see what we have done
wrong'.
Both she
and and Barrowman have been questioned under caution by the NCA. However, it is
understood that both attended their interviews with prepared statements and,
citing legal advice, declined to answer other questions.
At least
four ministers involved with the handling of the contracts process have
reportedly cooperated with investigators.
Mr Gove is
said to have passed on 'everything'. He said last week that he hopes the NCA
investigation 'reaches its conclusion quickly' and that 'justice can be
served'.
Baroness
Mone previously hit out at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after he said he was
taking the scandal 'incredibly seriously.
In a post
on X, formerly known as Twitter, she wrote: 'What is @RishiSunak talking about?
'I was
honest with the Cabinet Office, the Government and the NHS in my dealings with
them.
'They all
knew about my involvement from the very beginning.'
In a
growing row, Lord Bethell, who was a health minister during the Covid pandemic,
rejected Baroness Mone's claim.
Baroness
Mone lobbied Michael Gove and Lord Agnew in May 2020 to secure lucrative
business for PPE Medpro
He replied
on the social media site that she 'wasn't honest about her financial interest
to me' and noted her link to PPE Medpro 'wasn't in her Register of Interests,
as you'd expect it'.
Baroness
Mone then returned to social media again to ask whether the PM stands to profit
from Moderna's development of a Covid vaccine.
'I suggest
that he might want to take that "incredibly seriously" before
pointing fingers to save his own skin!' she posted.
Asked
previously about claims he might have benefited financially from investments in
pharmaceutical companies - including Moderna - during the Covid pandemic, Mr
Sunak has pointed to his interests being held in 'blind trust'.
'I don't
actually have any knowledge of what is in there. And that's how that works,' he
told TalkTV's Piers Morgan earlier this year.
'The whole
point about something that's truly blind is that it's blind from me.'
Baroness
Mone and Mr Barrowman's interview, on the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg
programme, saw the peer admit she did not tell the truth about her links to the
firm – while insisting that she and her husband have 'no case to answer'.
When asked
about Baroness Mone's admission she had lied about her involvement with PPE
Medpro, the PM told reporters during a trip to Scotland: 'The Government takes
these things incredibly seriously, which is why we're pursuing legal action
against the company concerned in these matters.
'That's how
seriously I take it and the Government takes it.
'But it is
also subject to an ongoing criminal investigation. And because of that, there's
not much further that I can add.'
Government
ministers have advised Baroness Mone not to return to the House of Lords, which
she has been a member of since 2015 after being handed a peerage by ex-PM David
Cameron.
She took a
leave of absence from Parliament's upper chamber in December last year, which
she said at the time was 'in order to clear her name of the allegations that
have been unjustly levelled against her'.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário