In January 2022 The House of Lords Commissioner for Standards and National Crime Agency launched investigations into Mone's links to the contracts.
Mone announced in December that year that she was taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords "to clear her name" amid the allegations.
She also told of how her younger brother, who had spina bifida, died at the age of eight, when she was 10 years old, and that her father, who was suffering from cancer, lost the use of his legs when she was 15.
[8] Mone had read about a new silicone product while on holiday in Florida and approached the company to obtain its European licence to produce bras.
[12] In 2014, a former operations director for MJM won a claim for unfair dismissal from her company after discovering that Mone had authorised electronic bugging of his office.
[13] Mone threatened to sue her critics when it was revealed her company MJM International had paid a substantial sum of money into a controversial tax avoidance scheme, criticised by Chancellor George Osborne as "morally repugnant".
A spokesman for the British Dietetic Association said "there is no scientific basis or rationale for these products, they are making claims which are unfounded and feeding into public confusion around nutrition and pseudo-science.
[25] In April 2019, The Sunday Times reported that the development was "on hold" with the construction incomplete, while a spokesman for Mone said that it was going "extremely well" and was in the process of being redesigned.
[38] In January 2012, she gave an interview to The Sunday Times stating her intention to move herself and her business to England were Scotland to become independent following the 2014 referendum on the issue.
The Times reported in 2018 that in the previous year, Mone had only attended the House of Lords on 12% of the days in which it was sitting, missing important debates including on the Brexit bill.
[50][29] Her low attendance led SNP MSP Rona Mackay to describe her as the "Layabout Lady of Mayfair" and businessman Douglas Anderson, who had criticised her original appointment, called for her to resign.
[51] In December 2022, Mone's spokesperson said she was taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords in order to "clear her name" of allegations [see PPE Medpro controversy, below] that had been "unjustly levelled against her".
It further emerged in January 2022 that Mone personally recommended Medpro for a government contract five days before PPE Medpro had been formed; in one key email, sent on 8 May 2020, Mone, using her private email address, proposed supplying large quantities of PPE face masks to the government, saying they could be sourced through “my team in Hong Kong”.
[60] Despite Mone first claiming her involvement in the company went no further than a single recommendation, many further emails detailed extensive lobbying of multiple ministers and staff for months.
Leaked WhatsApp messages seen by The Guardian appeared to show Mone further discussing intimate details of the orders including the size of garments that formed part of a contract.
[63] An unnamed source told The Guardian that Mone was "in a class of her own in terms of the sheer aggression of her advocacy" for LFI Diagnostics.
[64][65][66] Following a complaint by the Labour peer George Foulkes, the House of Lords commissioner for standards launched an investigation into the relationship between Mone and PPE Medpro in January 2022.
[67] On 27 April 2022, Mone's homes in London and on the Isle of Man and associated business addresses were raided by the police, who launched an investigation into potential fraud.
[69] It was reported that the NCA is liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service and could, ultimately, seek to bring charges under bribery or fraud laws.
[64] In November 2022, The Guardian reported that an Isle of Man trust, of which Mone and her adult children are beneficiaries, had received £29 million originating from PPE Medpro via a series of offshore transactions involving Barrowman.
[71] On 6 December 2022, Mone's spokesperson said she was taking a leave of absence from the House of Lords with immediate effect "in order to clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her.
[58][74] In December, Mone featured in another interview on Laura Kuenssberg's BBC show in which she stated that she had lied to the press "to protect my family", adding that this was "not a crime".
[75][76] On 26 January 2024, assets controlled by Mone and her husband were frozen under a court order obtained by the Crown Prosecution Service.
[77][78][79] The Financial Times reported that restrictions had been placed over £75m worth of assets, including a townhouse in Belgravia, properties in Glasgow, an estate on the Isle of Man and numerous bank accounts.
[80][81] In June 2024 it was reported that a 46-year-old man, who was not named, had been arrested in connection with the criminal investigation into PPE Medpro, on suspicion of conspiracy to commit fraud and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
[83] Mone was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her "services to the lingerie industry" in the 2010 New Year Honours.
[84][85][86] After consultation with the College of Arms, on 30 September 2015, she was created a life peer as Baroness Mone, of Mayfair in the City of Westminster.
[95] In December 2021, a wealth manager of Indian heritage accused Mone of sending racist text messages to him after the two were involved in a 2019 yachting incident in Monaco, which resulted in the death of a person.
[97] In January 2022, the Metropolitan Police announced they were investigating the incident after receipt of an allegation of a racially aggravated malicious communication.
The nine bedroomed house was described by Country Life as having "a list of leisure facilities which would make a 5-star hotel blush" with "tennis courts, helipad and grand architecture which will turn heads".