Michael Gove and Matt Hancock questioned by ‘Britain’s FBI’ on Michelle Mone row

Matt Hancock and Michael Gove have been interviewed by the National Crime Agency (NCA) as a part of a probe right into a PPE firm linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone.

The ex-Health Secretary and Levelling Up Secretary are amongst witnesses spoken to by “Britain’s FBI” in current months as a part of an inquiry into PPE Medpro, which received £200million of Government contracts to provide masks and robes in the course of the pandemic.

Others questioned embrace Lord Bethell, a former Health Minister, and Lord Agnew, who served within the Cabinet Office. It is known they had been interviewed by the NCA as witnesses and never beneath warning. There isn’t any suggestion they had been concerned in any alleged wrongdoing.

Lib Dem Health Spokesperson Daisy Cooper stated: “Another day, yet another Covid scandal. The public deserve the truth about exactly what went on behind the scenes. The Conservative Government need to be held to account, enough is enough.”

Former lingerie tycoon Baroness Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman got here beneath scrutiny after issues had been raised about her alleged failure to declare monetary pursuits in PPE Medpro. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is suing PPE Medpro for greater than £130m, together with storage and prices, over robes it purchased for £122m however says it can not use as a result of they weren’t sterile. PPE Medpro rejects the claims.

Baroness Mone introduced she was taking a depart of absence from the House of Lords final December to “clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her”, her spokesperson stated. The determination brought about her to lose the Conservative whip.

The peer, who was nicknamed Baroness Bra resulting from her background because the founding father of lingerie agency Ultimo, was accused to have tried to bully ministers into awarding public PPE contracts to PPE Medpro. She first flagged the corporate as a doable provider of PPE 5 days earlier than the agency was integrated at Companies House. PPE Medpro was awarded two contracts, one value £81m to provide masks and one other value £122m for medical robes between May and June 2020.

Mr Hancock claimed in his ‘Pandemic Diaries’ she had despatched him an “extraordinarily aggressive email” in 2021 to attempt to safe a contract for an unnamed second agency supplying lateral circulation checks. He stated he didn’t reply and the agency was not awarded the contract.

Leaked checking account paperwork reportedly confirmed Mr Barrowman acquired £65m in earnings from the PPE deal in September 2020 after which transferred £29m to a belief set as much as profit Baroness Mone and her youngsters the next month. The Mirror revealed earlier this 12 months that Baroness Mone and Ms Barrowman purchased a £7m ­property within the Algarve, Portugal, by way of an offshore agency final July – three months after their properties had been raided by police over the £200m PPE deal.

Baroness Mone and Mr Barrowman solely admitted their involvement with the agency for the primary time earlier this month. A consultant for the couple stated: “The UK government was fully aware of Baroness Mone’s involvement. Like many other peers and MPs on the high priority lane, she acted as an intermediary/liaison between PPE Medpro and the Cabinet Office/Department of Health and Social Care.” When The Mirror uncovered the connections between the couple and PPE enterprise, we had been instructed by a spokesman for the peer that: “Baroness Mone has no comment as she has no role or involvement in PPE Medpro.”

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson stated: “We acted swiftly to procure PPE at the height of the pandemic, competing in an overheated global market where demand massively outstripped supply. Due diligence was carried out on all companies and every company was subjected to the same checks. We have launched legal proceedings against the firm in question and as such it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

It was reported in a single day {that a} girl has been arrested over an alleged blackmail plot towards Baroness Mone and Mr Barrowman, in keeping with the Daily Record. The unnamed girl, described by police as in her 40s, was arrested at her residence in Weybridge, Surrey, final week. She was launched on bail after being interrogated. Detectives from each Surrey Police and the Isle of Man Constabulary are concerned within the joint investigation.