The Good Law Project has revealed that Karen Brost, the director of Luxe Lifestyle – a firm that bagged a £25.7m PPE contract when it had no employees and thousands of pounds of debts – has been arrested on suspicion of fraud and interviewed under caution by HMRC, and her husband, Tim Whyte, is also being investigated in connection with the offence.
An arrest has been made amid ongoing investigations into people who made millions during the Covid pandemic through the Tories’ unlawful VIP lane used to award contracts.
The Good Law Project has revealed that Karen Brost, the director of Luxe Lifestyle – a firm that bagged a £25.7m PPE contract when it had no employees and thousands of pounds of debts – has been arrested on suspicion of fraud and interviewed under caution by HMRC, and her husband, Tim Whyte, is also being investigated in connection with the offence.
In 2022, the High Court ruled that the Government’s operation of a fast-track VIP lane for awarding lucrative PPE contracts to those with political connections was unlawful. The ‘VIP lane’ saw companies fast-tracked for consideration in lucrative contracts at the start of the pandemic if they were referred by MPs, ministers and government officials.
The Good Law Project reports: “Luxe Lifestyle won the contract after the Tory activist Mark Higton contacted the former trade minister Greg Hands about the firm’s offer to provide PPE. Higton was chair of one of Greg Hands’s local constituency parties at the time.
“Good Law Project understands from an HMRC document that it suspects Luxe Lifestyle made a profit in excess of £5m on the transaction. Much of the PPE supplied as part of this £25.7m deal was deemed unsuitable for use by the NHS.
“When contacted by Good Law Project, HMRC said that it could neither confirm nor deny investigations and did not comment on identifiable taxpayers.”
Lawyers for Brost say that she denied the allegations and offences in interview and was released without charge and is not subject to bail.
Lawyers for Whyte said that he is unable to offer any comment until the HMRC investigation has finished, but that the PPE supplied by Luxe Lifestyle was delivered to the specification required by the Department of Health and Social Care and was used by the NHS.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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