£75m Restraint Order against Baroness Mone and Douglas Barrowman in relation to DHSC contracts with PPE Medpro
As has been widely reported in the media, some £75m of assets linked to Baroness Mone and her husband Douglas Barrowman were frozen under a restraint order granted by Southwark Crown Court under s41 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in December 2023 on application of the CPS. The assets include real property in London, Scotland and the Isle of Man as well as a range of bank accounts.
Restraint orders seek to preserve assets for the purpose of potential confiscation proceedings which can be instigated by the CPS under POCA following a criminal conviction. Neither Baroness Mone nor Douglas Barrowman has been charged with a criminal offence, still less been convicted, and they deny all wrongdoing.
The order relates to the NCA’s investigation into contracts worth some £200m which were concluded between the Department of Health and Social Care and PPE Medpro for masks and gowns during the COVID pandemic in mid 2020. As confirmed in a recent documentary funded by PPE Medpro, the investigation is focusing on allegations of fraud and bribery by Baroness Mone and Douglas Barrowman. Following applications made by the CPS earlier in 2023 and subsequent negotiations between the parties, the order was settled by consent.
Kennedy Talbot KC (leading Ruth Hughes of 5 Stone Buildings and Richard Hoyle of Essex Court Chambers) leads the CPS team in the restraint proceedings.