A WOMAN has been arrested amid a probe into accusations of a plot to blackmail Scottish Tory peer Michelle Mone and her husband Douglas Barrowman.
Officers in the English county of Surrey said they were “engaged in a joint investigation” with the Isle of Man Constabulary over the allegations.
Mone and Barrowman have a 154 acre-estate on the Isle of Man, which offers vastly reduced tax rates compared to living on the mainland.
The alleged blackmail plot was reported by the Daily Record on Sunday, which said that the arrested woman had been released on conditional police bail.
A spokesperson for Surrey Police said: “The Isle of Man Constabulary are currently engaged in a joint investigation with Surrey Police in relation to an alleged blackmail offence being committed across both jurisdictions.
“Police have been working with the aggrieved party and at this time there are no identified risks to any other members of the public.
“The investigation is still in the very early stages so we are unable to make any further comment.”
Mone has taken a leave of absence from the House of Lords to fight allegations that she may have profited from PPE contracts worth more than £200 million after recommending a firm to ministers in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Conservative baroness had consistently denied being connected with PPE Medpro, a company which is currently being sued by the UK Government.
In 2020, Mone’s lawyer stated categorically that she was “not connected in any way with PPE Medpro,” with Barrowman’s lawyers repeatedly denying he was an investor in the company and that he “never had any role or function” with the firm.
However, a representative for the couple and spokesperson for PPE Medpro admitted earlier in November that the pair were in fact connected to the company.
The representative told the Guardian: “The UK Government was fully aware of Baroness Mone’s involvement; like many other peers and MPs on the high priority lane, she acted as an intermediary/liaison between PPE Medpro and the Cabinet Office/Department of Health and Social Care.”
They added that Barrowman, who runs tax and wealth advisory firm Knox Group based in the Isle of Man, “was the chairman and leader of the PPE Medpro consortium that supplied the UK Government”.
Barrowman was reportedly paid at least £65m from PPE Medpro’s profits, later transferring £29m into a trust for Mone and her three adult children.
