Walter Finch
THE husband of disgraced Tory peer Michelle Mone appeared in a Spanish court today as part of a €6 million tax evasion case.
Doug Barrowman, 58, is facing a possible five and a half years in jail if he’s found guilty of taking part in the scheme to defraud the Spanish government.
The millionaire businessman is in the dock in Santander along with six others, who all deny the charges, for the five day trial.
Prosecutors allege Barrowman profited from a fraudulent €6.3 million invoice designed to evade tax and extract millions of euros from Spanish company B3 Cable Solutions via UK company Axis Ventura in 2008.
The Spanish company went bust four years later, destroying 200 jobs at a cable factory near Santander.
It is just the latest charge of fraud and corruption to continue to dog Mone, 52, and her husband.
In the UK they are under investigation by the National Crime Agency over allegations they recommended to the government a company for PPE contracts that they benefited from.
An infamous yacht belonging to Michelle Mone was tracked down near Barcelona in Feburary 2023 by activists who renamed it ‘Pandemic Profiteer’.
The search had been underway for the €11 million yacht Lady M since the Covid scandal broke in 2022 surrounding a £200 million government contract to supply PPE given to a firm Mone lobbied on behalf of.
Back in Spain, a detailed indictment against Barrowman and his partners spanning four pages laid out the details of the separate charge.
It accuses Barrowman and two other investors of attending a pair of meetings at B3 Cable Solutions in 2008, during which a substantial invoice amounting to €6.3 million was allegedly ‘confirmed’ and entered in the company’s financial records.
According to claims by Spanish officials, the substantial payment made against the invoice was purportedly intended for personal gain.
In his defence, Barrowman asserts that at the time the contentious invoice was issued and settled, he held no positions as either a shareholder or a director within Axis.
READ MORE:
- Much sought-after yacht belonging to scandal-ridden Tory peer Michelle Mone finally tracked down in Barcelona
- Husband of scandal-embroiled Tory peer Michelle Mone facing five years in jail for fraud in Spain
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