Michelle Mone is to be sued by The New European and the Good Law project in an effort to recover legal fees spent responding to her threats of law suits over the PPE Medpro scandal.
The Conservative-appointed peer is facing a lawsuit from the Department of Health and Social Care and an investigation by the National Crime Agency over the supply of personal protective equipment during the Covid pandemic.
Lady Mone and her husband, Doug Barrowman, secured Government contracts worth more than £200 million to supply personal protective equipment after she recommended it to ministers.
By their own admission they made around a 30% profit from the contract, bringing in around £60m for Mr Barrowman - who is a resident of the Isle of Man, a tax haven.
Read More: Michelle Mone should be dismissed from Lords says Tory minister
Though masks provided by the company, PPE Medpro, were used the gowns supplied were found not to be up to the required standard.
When this information came to light, Lady Mone and her husband denied any links to the firm and threatened legal action against anyone who reported that they were involved.
Both now admit they lied about their involvement.
The New European is working with the Good Law Project to bring a case against Lady Mone in a case which will seek to establish whether there is a legal mechanism to recover those costs where deceit is proven.
Read More: Michelle Mone, her controversial career and those PPE questions - explained in five
Matt Kelly, editor-in-chief of The New European, said: “Mone sought to pretend that the Lady M yacht had nothing to do with her. That is a nonsense. We were forced to spend several thousand pounds of costs in legal fees responding to her mendacious threats. We want our money back. More than that, we want to establish a future deterrent against wealthy individuals willing to lie to stymie honest reporting.
"We look forward to seeing Mone in court in the new year.”
Jolyon Maugham KC, founder and director of Good Law Project, said: "The law must not allow itself to become a tool whereby those with money can bully and silence those with none. We aim to create further jeopardy for those who engage in these kinds of egregious breaches."
The action against Mone is being conducted by Lochlinn Parker, managing director of Good Law Practice and Caroline Addy from Doughty Street Chambers.
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