ICSM Manufacturing Insolvency News: NHS supplier of PPE linked to Michelle Mone ordered to repay £122m - but firm files for bankruptcy
By Harry Mottram: The Government has written off close to £2bn in Covid loan fraud with every week another businessman or woman charge and convicted of taking money they were not entitled to. Fraud is one thing but PPE Medpro supplied £122m of medical gowns which The Department of Health and Social Care said did not comply with relevant healthcare standards and sued the firm for the full amount.
The case has hit the headlines as peer Baroness Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman are linked to the firm and benefitted from its finances and the business was paid the cash in full for the PPE – even though the NHS had to spend a fortune in disposing of the gowns. And of course at the height of covid they had to scramble to replace the unsuitable PPE.
Michelle Mone and Doug Barrowman are unrepentant claiming they did nothing wrong while admitting they lied about have a company connection to the business and benefitting from the order. The spending spree they appeared to go on after receiving the money – widely reported - included luxury items, a yacht and property. That money argued the lawyers should have been spent on PPE fit for the NHS to use.
The High Court ruled Medpro failed to prove the gowns were up to the standard required with Paul Stanley KC for the Government revealing to the trial that of 140 gowns that were tested, 103 failed. PPE Medpro was set up by a consortium led by Baroness Mone's husband, Doug Barrowman, to supply items through the so-called VIP lane with 25 million sterile gowns made in China in 2020. The Department of Health served the company with a notice rejecting the gowns and asking for a refund but it has taken a court case and legal action to force the firm to repay the cash. Michelle Mone and Doug Barrowman say they don’t have the money to repay the sum demanded.
Ian Carrotte of ICSM said he understands that PPE Medpro Limited, linked to Michelle Mone and Douglas Barrowman has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators. It could be a way to try to protect them for 10 days and the directors of the firm from the long arm of the law seeking the millions owed. Liquidators will look at the books and if they find wrongdoing – the company knew the gowns were unsuitable but still cashed the cheques - then it could be seen as fraudulent and being 'wilfully negligent' in the handling of the contract. Only then would Mone and Barrowman as persons of significant influence be in serious trouble.
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