UK parliamentarian admits lying about lucrative pandemic contracts but says she's done nothing wrong

abcnews.go.com:

A member of Britain’s House of Lords has acknowledged that she repeatedly lied about her links to a company that was awarded lucrative contracts to supply protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic

LONDON — A member of Britain’s House of Lords has acknowledged that she repeatedly lied about her links to a company that was awarded lucrative government contracts to supply protective masks and gowns during the coronavirus pandemic.

Underwear tycoon Michelle Mone said that she had made an “error” in denying connections to the company PPE Medpro, and regretted threatening to sue journalists who alleged she had ties to the firm. Her husband, Doug Barrowman, has acknowledged he led the consortium that owns the company.

“I did make an error in saying to the press that I wasn’t involved,” Mone said in a BBC interview broadcast Sunday. “Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I wasn’t trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, and I regret and I’m sorry for not saying straight out, ‘Yes, I am involved.’”

Mone admitted that she is a beneficiary of her husband’s financial trusts, which hold about 60 million pounds ($76 million) in profits from the deal.

But she argued that the couple were being made “scapegoats” in a wider scandal about U.K. government spending during the pandemic.

“We’ve done one thing, which was lie to the press to say we weren’t involved,” she said, adding: “I can’t see what we’ve done wrong.”

The case has come to symbolize the hundreds of millions of pounds wasted through hastily awarded contracts for protective equipment. The U.K. government has come under heavy criticism for its so-called VIP lanes during the pandemic — where preferential treatment for public contracts was given to companies recommended by