Baroness Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman bought a £10 million home near Miami just three months before the PPE company linked to the couple was ordered to repay £122 million to the taxpayer.
The four-bedroom, five-bathroom apartment is on Fisher Island, an ultra-exclusive community dubbed “billionaire island’, which is home to Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Hollywood A-lister Julia Roberts.
Barrowman led a consortium that owns PPE Medpro which the High Court found in breach of a government contract for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the Covid pandemic.
The Department of Health and Social Care sued PPE Medpro over claims the medical gowns it supplied did not comply with relevant healthcare standards.
PPE Medpro filed for administration a day before the court ruling and missed the 15 October deadline to repay the money which has risen to above £145 million because of accumulated interest.
Mone and Barrowman have denied any wrongdoing and Mone has claimed they have been used as “scapegoats”.
Mark Williams-Thomas, who is representing Mone, said Barrowman’s firm had bought the Florida property and the couple were staying there on and off while renovating it.
He told the Mail on Sunday: “Mr Barrowman is a professional investor who for the past 35 years has bought and sold all manner of assets.
“The property arm of his group recently bought a property on Fisher Island, Miami, with a view to refurbishment followed by resale.”
Fisher Island, accessible only by boat or helicopter, is ranked as one of the richest places in the US in terms of income per head and boasts some of the country’s most expensive houses.
Mone’s apartment, in an exclusive waterfront building, has a wraparound terrace with spectacular views over Miami Beach.
She was made a peer by former Prime Minister David Cameron but after the court ruling she said she had no intention of returning as a Conservative member of the Lords.
Mone and Barrowman have been selling various assets in Britain, including a £19m townhouse and two Glasgow properties.
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