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Michelle Mone husband ‘to set record straight’ on PPE row

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The Glasgow-born peer said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Doug Barrowman would be releasing a statement at 9am on Monday after “weeks of continuing press coverage”.

The pair are attempting to clear their names after a PPE scandal involving a firm they both had deep ties to.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) is investigating allegations of fraud and bribery surrounding PPE Medro, which was handed more than £200 million in government contracts after Glasgow-born Mone lobbied ministers and government officials during the pandemic.

It emerged today that a £3million payment made into her bank account is being scrutinised by the NCA are part of its investigation into the scandal.

The Sunday Times reports that the payment, made into Baroness Mone’s Coutts account, is believed to be of interest to the NCA because it arrived after £65million in profits from the company were transferred to trusts and accounts connected to her husband.

Glasgow Times:

If proven that the payment came from the profits of the lucrative government contracts, it could suggest that Mone was a direct beneficiary.

There have now been many weeks of continued press coverage involving the PPE Medpro story.

My husband Doug will issue a statement tomorrow morning at 9am to set the record straight.

Mone has publicly stated only that she is an indirect beneficiary.

In an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg this month she said: “It’s my husband’s money. It’s his money and it’s not my children’s.”

The Sunday Times previously revealed that her bank accounts had been frozen by the NCA around 12 months ago, including one at Coutts.

In response to the revelations, Mone, 52, said she was being treated like the drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Our sister title The Herald revealed that the BBC has been flooded with complaints about Baroness Mone’s appearance on Laura Kuenssberg’s show.

Some 168 complaints have been received to date about the item broadcast on Sunday, December 17, according to the broadcaster.

Viewers complained that the interview with Baroness Mone and her billionaire husband Douglas Barrowman showed “bias in their favour”.

A BBC probe is now underway into the complaints.

During the interview, the lingerie tycoon admitted she stood to benefit from profits of tens of millions of pounds from a PPE deal with the Government after repeatedly insisting she had nothing to do with it.

But the 52-year-old also remained defiant and denied wrongdoing.

“I don’t honestly see there is a case to answer,'” she said. “I can’t see what we have done wrong.”

Baroness Mone and her lawyers repeatedly insisted she and Mr Barrowman, 58, had nothing to do with the company or the process of awarding the contracts.

Raised in the East End of Glasgow, Baroness Mone first came to prominence in 1999 with the launch of the Ultimo bra.

She would later claim Julia Roberts wore one of the bras in Erin Brockovich.

Baroness Mone and her company MJM International would go on to launch a range of diet pills, as well as partnering with the likes of ASDA, and Debenham’s and doing modelling campaigns with Kelly Brook, Gemma Atkinson and Mel B of the Spice Girls.



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