By Nick Sommerlad

Copyright dailyrecord

The protective gear company linked to Michelle Mone , which is being sued by the Government for £134million, has just £666,000 left in assets. The latest accounts for PPE Medpro Limited show it has spent £4.3million defending itself against the High Court claim. It increases the prospect that – even if the Government were to win its claim over allegedly unusable PPE – little or no money will be recouped for the taxpayer. The company, first exposed by our sister paper the Mirror , was set up by a close associate of Baroness Mone and her businessman husband, Doug Barrowman, in the early weeks of the pandemic. It rapidly won more than £200million in Covid contracts for gowns and face masks through the Government’s VIP procurement lane. Mone initially denied involvement in the deal, but it later emerged she and her husband had benefited from £65million in profits from the firm. The couple are linked to more than £100million in assets, including properties around the world, a private jet and superyacht. Some have been frozen by the courts, others have been recently sold or advertised for sale. The Department of Health launched proceedings in 2022 over claims that 25million gowns were unsuitable for use in the NHS after tests showed many were not sterile. Over four weeks of court hearings in July, PPE Medpro denied the claims, insisting the contamination must have happened in transit, and said the department had “buyer’s remorse” after buying 10 years of stock. The judgement in the case is pending.Latest accounts for PPE Medpro, for the 12 months to the end of July, show it had £541,000 of investments and was owed £1.2million. But after debts of £1.1million , the “net assets” were just £666,025, down from £2.1million a year previously. PPE Medpro has declined to comment. The accounts refer to the Department of Health’s court claim for £133,577,920.20 plus interest, but state that “the company disputes the claim and served a defence and counterclaim” and that following legal advice it “believes that it has a sound defence to the claim”. It adds: “The company has used approximately £4.2million of reserves to defend the DHSC [Department of Health and Social Care] claim. Since the balance sheet date further costs have been incurred in this respect and are expected to be in the order of £100,000.” Behind PPE Medpro was a consortium led by Mone’s husband. Neither gave evidence during the trial. PPE Medpro was incorporated in May 2020 and by the end of June was awarded two huge contracts after Mone lobbied figures in the Government and civil service. When we first revealed links between Mone and the newly formed company in October 2020, her spokesperson said: “Baroness Mone has no role or involvement in PPE Medpro.” But she later said she “regretted” lying, admitting in December 2023: “I made an error in what I said to the press. I regret not saying to the press straight away, ‘Yes, I am involved. And the Government knew I was involved’.” No issues have been raised with the face masks the Government paid nearly £81million for but gowns costing £122million were rejected in December 2020. The National Crime Agency launched a fraud probe into the deals, which has seen Mone and Barrowman interviewed under caution. Their homes in London and the Isle of Man were raided by detectives in April 2022. The pair are suspected of conspiracy to defraud, fraud by false representation and bribery, but deny all the claims. Mone is on a leave of absence from the House of Lords “in order to clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her”. She is facing a separate investigation by the Lords Commissioner for Standards into whether she breached the conduct rules by failing to register an interest in the firm and by lobbying for it to be awarded government contracts. Mone told the Government she was not entitled to “any financial benefit whatsoever” from £200million in VIP Lane PPE deals , emails leaked to the Guardian show. Yet a few months later, £65million in profits from PPE Medpro were transferred to trusts and accounts connected to Barrowman, of which £29million was reportedly transferred to a trust set up for Mone and her kids. A spokesperson for the couple said the emails were “taken out of context” and the pair “deny any wrongdoing”. Mone, the businesswoman behind the Ultimo underwear brand, was made a peer in 2015. She married Barrowman in 2020. Around £75million of assets linked to the couple have been frozen or restrained. A court order obtained by the Financial Times covers a string of assets including a Belgravia townhouse, subsequently sold for £19million, a country estate on the Isle of Man and nine properties in Glasgow, owned through offshore firms. It also covers 15 accounts at upmarket banks Coutts, Hoares and Goldman Sachs. We revealed Barrowman bought a £7million villa in the Algarve in 2022. It has since been sold. He owns a £41million villa on Caribbean isle St Barts, which has been marketed for sale for several years. Also for sale in recent years are their £7m yacht Lady M and their £7.5million private jet.