Michelle Mone can keep '£15k-a-week' rent from £25 million central London mansion, court rules

Baroness Mone, who was at the centre of a £148 million Covid PPE scandal, had, along with her husband, £75 million of British assets frozen by a court order two years ago amid a probe by the National Crime Agency.

The order has now been amended, allowing the couple to keep the money they have earned from renting out a £25 million mansion in Chester Square, Belgravia, central London, as the investigation into a deal to supply 25 million surgical gowns during Covid continues.

The lavish property is owned by the Isle of Man-based company belonging to her husband, Doug Barrowman.

The firm paid £9.25 million for the Grade-II listed home in December 2020, just a month after another one of his businesses – PPE Medpro - was paid £122 for unsuitable medical gowns imported from China.

It was granted planning permission for a costly refurbishment, according to the Times. It was previously on the market for £25 million.

Read more: Michelle Mone-linked PPE firm is wound up as Government faces losing most of £148m Covid debt

Read more: Government 'not giving up' on recouping millions linked to Baroness Michelle Mone, Starmer says

An interim freezing order was imposed in May 2023, with a final order confirmed in December 2023.

An amendment to the freezing order, seen by the newspaper, was reportedly approved by Judge Tony Baumgartner during a secret hearing at Southwark Crown Court.

“Any rental income from this property is not restrained and there is no restriction on the use to which this income may be put,” the judge was quoted as saying.

Mr Barrowman, Baroness Mone, her adult children, parents and multiple companies in the Isle of Man and the British Virgin Islands are banned from “dealing with identified assets” during the investigation into the PPE deal.

Last year, the couple put several of their assets up for sale, which they own through a string of offshore companies.

The assets included a yacht - named Lady M - which became infamous when Mone posted a picture of herself in a bathing suit on the vessel in the Mediterranean with the caption: "Business isn’t easy. But it is rewarding.”

Also for sale at a cut price was a £41 million six-bedroom luxury villa on the picturesque island of St Barts in the Caribbean.

The 17,000 sq ft six-bedroom mansion, which Barrowman built in 2018, is claimed to be one of the biggest on the Caribbean island. It has reportedly played host to the rich and famous including Jay Z and Beyoncé.

The Mirror also reported that the couple's £19 million London townhouse was sold in 2023, as well as their £7m Algarve, Portugal villa.

PPE Medpro was established on May 12 2020, and the same day was referred by Baroness Mone to the "high priority lane", which managed PPE referrals from MPs, ministers and senior officials.

It was sued by the DHSC in 2022, with the department claiming at a trial that the company had breached a deal for the gowns as they were "faulty" by not being sterile.

Lady Mone, a lingerie tycoon, had previously distanced herself from PPE Medpro but has since admitted she lied when denying her links with the company.

PPE Medpro filed for administration on September 30.

At a hearing at the Insolvency and Companies Court last month, barristers for the three joint administrators asked for PPE Medpro to be kept in administration to pay off some creditors.

It was ordered to pay the government £148 million in October and allegedly owes £39 million in unpaid tax.

Baroness Mone, who created the lingerie brand Ultimo, was made a Conservative peer by David Cameron in 2015, but the Parliament website currently states she is on a "leave of absence" after having the Tory whip suspended.

She has previously said on X that the Government had made her and Mr Barrowman the "poster couple for the PPE scandal" and claimed it had turned down multimillion-pound offers to settle the case.