A company linked to shamed Tory peer Baroness Michelle Mone that was found last month to have supplied unusable Covid PPE owes £39million in tax.
Documents filed by PPE Medpro’s administrators on Tuesday show the amount owed to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs on top of the £148million the company has already been ordered to pay the Government.
PPE Medpro – a consortium led by Baroness Mone‘s husband Doug Barrowman – was ordered to pay back the sum after being sued by the Department for Health and Social Care for providing 25 million ‘faulty’ gowns during the pandemic.
The Government insisted it has ‘absolutely not’ given up on recovering the sum after the company was put into administration last month.
PPE Medpro has £672,774 available to unsecured creditors, well short of what it owes, filings show.
The firm was initially ordered to pay just shy of £123 million to the Government, plus interest at a rate of 8% per year.
A spokesman for the consortium said previously it was prepared to ‘enter into a dialogue’ with the Government to reach a settlement.
‘On Friday October 11, it was made clear that the consortium partners of PPE Medpro are prepared to enter into discussions with the Government, via the administrators, to reach a possible settlement,’ he said.
‘This was made very public, and the Government was made aware of it. Yet, very disappointingly, the Government has made no effort to respond or seek to enter into discussions.’
Michelle Mone in her Chanel-themed outfit for a birthday meal out with her husband last night
The revelation is only the latest embarrassment for Lady Mone, who is facing calls to quit the Lords over her links to the PPE scandal.
Earlier this month, a judge ruled that the 25 million Chinese-made surgical gowns supplied by PPE Medpro when Covid struck in 2020 had not been properly sterilised.
Lady Mone, made a peer by David Cameron in 2015, was said to have recommended the company to the Government via the so-called ‘VIP lane’ on the very day PPE Medpro was created in May 2020.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has demanded the company repay the money it owes in full, saying: ‘We want our money back.’
Despite the legal troubles circling Lady Mone and Mr Barrowman, the couple recently bought a £10 million four-bedroom, five-bathroom apartment on Florida‘s Fisher Island, an ultra-exclusive sanctuary nicknamed ‘Billionaire Island’.
The Glasgow-born pair purchased the vast luxury flat in July, the Mail On Sunday revealed.
The tiny and secluded island – accessible only by boat or helicopter – is ranked as one of the richest places in the US in terms of income per head, and boasts some of the country’s most expensive houses.
Its dazzling list of celebrity property owners have included Hollywood legends Julia Roberts and Mel Brooks, chat show queen Oprah Winfrey. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also has a home nearby.
Their almost 5,000 sq ft corner apartment in an exclusive waterfront building boasts a wraparound terrace with spectacular views over Miami Beach, Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.
Baroness Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman, who recently acquired a home in Florida
The state-of-the-art pad has private lift entry and a kitchen with craftsman-designed features, granite countertops and top-end appliances.
Mr Barrowman, a keen golfer, has access to a nine-hole course just moments from his door, while Baroness Mone, 54, can explore the compound’s fitness centre and hair salon.
A number of sources have spotted the pair at the island’s luxury restaurants.
The enclave also has two marinas, although the couple have sold their £6.8 million 40ft yacht Lady M.
Mark Williams-Thomas, who is representing Lady Mone, told the MoS that Mr Barrowman’s firm had bought the property and the couple were staying there on and off while renovating it.
He said: ‘Mr Barrowman is a professional investor who for the past 35 years has bought and sold all manner of assets. The property arm of his group recently bought a property on Fisher Island, Miami, with a view to refurbishment followed by resale.’
The Fisher Island condo was sold by estate agent Jill Eber, who cited client confidentiality when asked about the sale.