Property related to PPE Medpro, which secured more than 200 200m in government contracts at the start of the pandemic, was checked on Wednesday, with officials saying they had removed documents, computers and telephones. They included the home of 50-year-old Baroness Mone on the Isle of Man, who became known in the 1990s as the founder of the lingerie company Ultimo and became a controversial Tory peer by David Cameron in 2015. She shares the mansion with her billionaire husband, businessman Douglas Baruman. Ms Mone has previously denied any involvement in PPE Medpro, a company awarded 3 203m worth of surgical masks and robes to the NHS in May and June 2020. The company was founded by one of its former partners a few weeks before it won the PPE deals. However, it was said to have had an impact on ensuring that the company won a position in the government’s “VIP lane”, in which suppliers made up of politicians, peers and officials received preferential treatment. The leaked emails suggest that Baroness Mone was pressuring the government on behalf of the company behind the scenes. An official said he was “outraged” by the way he treated the company and threatened to raise the issue with Michael Gove and Matt Hancock, then Health Minister.
