After Baroness Mone’s lobbying of ministers, the PPE firm received over £200 million in taxpayers money. However, there are new questions regarding its ownership after claims that it failed to disclose its true owner.
Dan Neidle is a tax lawyer who has examined the filings of PPE Medpro at Companies House. He has questioned the compliance of the company with the laws that require firms to record the names and control persons.
He called for an inquiry after the firm replaced a former accountant who had close ties to Mone’s Husband, Douglas Barrowman as “person with significant controls” (PSC), with another Barrowman associate.
PPE Medpro has been the subject of an ongoing investigation by the National Crime Agency.
The NCA revealed this weekend that they are about to interview Michael Gove as a witness in their investigation. Lord Agnew was his former deputy.
Mone, a 51-year-old Conservative peer, sent an email to both ministers in May 2020, offering to provide urgently required PPE supplies, as the pandemic spread in Britain.
She has denied any connection to PPE Medpro in the past and did not declare a financial interest.
Baroness Mone and her husband Douglas Barrowman. Barrowman was alleged to have received at least £65million in “profits”, derived from PPE Medpro’s activities, last December.
The company, despite having no medical background, was placed in the “VIP” lanes of the government and was awarded two contracts worth £203,000,000 to supply surgical gowns and face masks.
Barrowman’s 58-year-old father was allegedly paid £65 million as “profits” from PPE Medpro in December of last year.
According to The Guardian, almost £29 million was transferred later to an offshore trust which benefits Mone and Mone’s children. Barrowman’s lawyer and PPE Medpro’s attorney said that the investigation was still ongoing at the time, which limited the information they could provide. He was told to state that some of the reports were inaccurate.
The Sunday Times reported last weekend that Anthony Page was fired by PPE Medpro on May. Page, a former accountant, was dismissed by Barrowman from the Knox Group of Companies on the Isle of Man due to alleged gross misbehavior.
Page, who has denied the allegations of misconduct, was listed at Companies House, as the sole shareholder and director of PPE Medpro. He also held a position as its PSC. Arthur Lancaster, a second accountant who was involved in Barrowman’s offshore empire, replaced Page in his roles on May 11. Lancaster, 60 years old, previously worked for the Duke of York’s now-defunct Pitch@Palace program.
Neidle of Tax Policy Associates, the think tank’s founder, has conducted a new review of PPE Medpro filings. He argues that if Page had been the real owner of the firm, he would still have been the PSC, even though he was fired by Knox Group.
Neidle writes that: “If the Knox Group was able to remove Mr Page from his position as shareholder/director at PPE Medpro, and replace him with Mr Lancaster as it appears, then the Knox Group and Douglas Barrowman as the person controlling the Knox Group, had a’significant control or influence’ over PPE Medpro, and Mr Barrowman would have been listed as a PSC. If the Knox Group acted for an unknown party, then they too should have been listed as PSC.
Since 2016, companies are required to declare the real owners of their company, also known as PSC. Directors who fail to comply with this requirement could be prosecuted, and if found guilty, sentenced to jail for up to 2 years or fined unlimited amounts.
A person who knows they are the PSC of a company but has not declared themselves as such may have also committed a crime punishable with up to two years imprisonment or an unlimited fine.
The House of Lords Standards Commissioner is investigating Mone, the former lingerie tycoon known as “Baroness Bra”, for possible violations of parliamentary rules. The peer took a leave from parliament in December to “clear her name” of the unjust accusations leveled against her.
Mone’s lobbying ministers for contracts with PPE Medpro was previously described as rude and abrasive. Gove, exasperated at one point, is reported to have called her “a real pain in the rear”. A spokesman from Gove refused to comment, while Agnew wasn’t available when contacted.
Page refused to comment. The NCA stated: “The NCA doesn’t routinely confirm or negate the existence of investigations, or the names or those who might or might not be under investigation.” Barrowman’s private office responded to the email by disputing the interpretation.