Baroness Michelle Mone has been permitted to retain rental income of up to £15,000 a week from a luxury London mansion, despite the property being subject to a court-ordered asset freeze linked to the £148 million PPE Medpro scandal.
A judge has approved an amendment to an existing freezing order, allowing rental proceeds from a £25 million Grade II* listed property in Chester Square, Belgravia, to be kept while criminal and civil investigations continue. The property may be rented out but cannot be sold.
The mansion is owned via an Isle of Man-registered company connected to the business empire of Mone’s husband, Doug Barrowman. It was purchased for £9.25 million in December 2020, shortly after PPE Medpro, a consortium led by Barrowman, secured a £122 million government contract to supply surgical gowns during the Covid pandemic. The gowns were later ruled unfit for use.
Court documents, seen by The Times, show the ruling was made during a closed hearing at Southwark Crown Court, where Judge Tony Baumgartner stated that rental income from the property “is not restrained and there is no restriction on the use to which this income may be put”.
The Belgravia property has undergone extensive refurbishment, including the addition of a cinema room, spa facilities and a basement level. It has previously been marketed with an asking price of £25 million.
The amended order forms part of a wider £75 million asset freeze imposed in 2023 while the National Crime Agency investigates the PPE Medpro deal. PPE Medpro was ordered to repay £148 million to the Department of Health and Social Care after losing a High Court case last year, but entered administration the day before the judgment was handed down.
In separate rulings, Mone and Barrowman have also been allowed to rent out multiple other UK properties held via offshore companies, including assets in Glasgow and the Isle of Man. Income from those properties is not restricted, although proceeds from any approved sales must be held under legal supervision.
Other assets covered by the freeze include bank accounts at Coutts, C Hoare & Co and Goldman Sachs, as well as a 39-metre superyacht, Lady M. The order does not extend to a £41 million villa in St Barts or a reported $12.5 million property in Miami.
Barrowman is reported to have received at least £65 million from PPE Medpro, including £29 million transferred into a trust for the benefit of Mone and her children.
Legal experts have previously warned that the government’s ability to recover funds will depend on whether liquidators pursue directors and beneficial owners, a process that could take years and involve significant cost.