The chase is on. A British barrister has launched a campaign to claw back £200m from Baroness Mone. The PPE scandal has a new twist. It is not just about political embarrassment now. It is about the money.
Details are thin. But the barrister's name is being whispered in chambers. He is assembling a legal team. The goal? To force repayment of profits linked to dodgy PPE contracts. Mone and her husband made a fortune. The taxpayer lost a fortune.
The political calculation is brutal. Mone is a Conservative peer. She is a donor. She is also a headache Downing Street cannot shake. Any move to recover funds puts the party in a bind. Support her? Look corrupt. Abandon her? Lose a donor.
Whitehall sources say the Treasury is watching. But they are not intervening. Not yet. The barrister is acting independently. He has funding from a group of whistleblowers. They have evidence. They are not backing down.
Mone's team has not commented. But expect a fierce defence. She has deep pockets. She has friends in high places. The question is whether those friends will stand by her.
The scandal has been a slow burn. It started with claims of VIP access for PPE contracts. Then came revelations of millions paid to offshore accounts. Now this. There is a feeling in the Lobby that this is only the beginning.
Westminster is split. Some MPs say let the courts decide. Others want a parliamentary inquiry. The government is silent. They are hoping it goes away. It won't.
A senior Labour source told me: "This is a test of Conservative integrity. They failed it before. We will see if they do again."
The barrister's legal strategy is simple. Use the Proceeds of Crime Act. Show the money was obtained through wrongdoing. Then recover it. It is a long shot. But the stakes are high.
Mone's husband, Doug Barrowman, is also in the crosshairs. He was the dealmaker. He structured the payments. The couple's lavish lifestyle is now a liability. Yachts. Villas. Private jets. All paid for with public money.
There are rumours of a separate criminal investigation. Neither Mone nor Barrowman have been charged. But the heat is rising.
This story is developing. I have contacts in the legal team. They say they will file papers soon. Possibly within weeks. The High Court will be the arena.
For now, the game is on. The barrister is a lone wolf. But he has a pack of journalists and activists behind him. They smell blood.
And in Downing Street, they smell danger. A successful recovery would be a humiliation for the Conservatives. A failure would be a victory for cronyism.
Watch this space. The PPE scandal is not going away. It is going to court.
