Disgraced Conservative peer Michelle Mone and her husband have confirmed they are being investigated by the UK's National Crime Agency in a statement complaining of their treatment at the hands of ministers and the media.

In a 1000-word lament posted on X, Doug Barrowman said he and his wife were being “hung out to dry” by ministers over the government’s Covid-19 PPE failings and treated as a "punchbag" by the press.

Mr Barrowman accused the government of using the NCA “to threaten criminal proceedings” to make the couple reach a settlement in relation to PPE Medpro, a consortium he led and which is being sued by the UK government for £122m plus costs for “breach of contract and unjust enrichment”.

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He went on to say that he and his family have been “treated as a punchbag by the media for the past three years” and “received death threats and a constant torrent of online and other abuse”.

Mr Barrowman went on to call for the resignation of Sir Chris Wormald, the most senior civil servant in the Department of Health and Social Care, claiming the DHSC took its action against the couple at a time when it was under increased scrutiny over how much it had “overspent” and why it had written off PPE.

The NCA is investigating allegations of fraud and bribery surrounding the company, the Sunday Times reported at the weekend. Mone and Barrowman both deny the allegations.

Ms Mone has admitted she lied when she denied having connections to the company, a consortium led by her husband, which was awarded contracts worth more than £200 million to supply gowns and face masks.

The bra entrepreneur stands to benefit from its £60m in profits that have been placed into a trust by her husband.

In his statement published on Monday, Mr Barrowman looked to turn the debate on to what he said were failures by the DHSC during its PPE procurement.

"Michelle and I are being hung out to dry to distract attention from Government incompetence in how it handled PPE procurement at time of national emergency," Mr Barowman said.

"Medpro supplied the Govt with 1.5% of PPE spend (£202 million) against a total of £13.1 billion and yet the media or Government refuses to focus on the other 98.5% of PPE supplied; much of which was defective or never used and/or supplied in identical circumstances to the Medpro contracts."

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He branded it "simply unacceptable" that the UK Covid-19 Inquiry is not scheduled to review pandemic PPE procurement until 2025 - after a general election expected to take place this year.

"The stark reality is that DHSC has brought this claim against Medpro at a time of increased scrutiny of how it overspent by so much and when questions were being asked as to why the Government was writing off £9 billion of PPE out of the £13.1 billion spent," he said.

"How on Earth did the UK Government manage to purchase five years of PPE when it was only supposed to build up four months of stock?

"Yet no-one has been held accountable at DHSC. Its head, Sir Chris Wormald (permanent secretary to the DHSC) should resign, since ultimately he signed off all the PPE contracts.

"So rather than focus on the real story here, it suits the agenda of the Government and their media spin doctors to scapegoat my wife and I for their own lamentable failures."

The Government last December issued breach of contract proceedings against PPE Medpro over the 2020 deal on the supply of sterile gowns.

The firm is defending the legal action.

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Mr Barrowman repeated his claim that ministers were "using the arm of the NCA to threaten criminal proceedings unless we settle" the civil case.

He said it was "curious" that "out of 176 disputed contracts to a value of £2.7 billion, no-one else, other than Medpro, is being litigated against", and he said the firm is "confident of success" in the legal dispute.

A DHSC spokesman said: "We do not comment on ongoing legal cases."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called for Lady Mone to be expelled from the House of Lords following the admission she lied over her links to Medpro.

The fresh statement from Mr Barrowman, which follows an interview he and Lady Mone gave the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg last month, appears to have been prompted by an article Dan Neidle, a tax expert whose investigation into the financial affairs of Nadhim Zahawi saw the MP sacked as Conservative Party chairman, was preparing to publish.

Mr Neidle said Mr Barrowman had not addressed in his statement that he had "lied about his connection to PPE Medpro".

Lawyers for the couple had initially told the press they had "no role or function in PPE Medpro".

Mr Neidle, the founder of Tax Policy Associates, speculated any failure by Mr Barrowman to inform Companies House of his role with PPE Medpro could be considered an offence.

He wrote on X: "Barrowman is shameless, and so confident that the rules won't be enforced, that even now - when he admits his role - he still hasn't corrected the Companies House entry for PPE Medpro.

"Companies House, the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) and the police have a choice.

"Prosecute Barrowman and his team for a breach that was both blatant and impactful. Or get ready for absolutely everyone to ignore these rules.

"Because rules that are never enforced may as well not exist."