- Go-between paid £21m in taxpayer funds for NHS PPE Archived Message
Posted by Tomski
on November 17, 2020, 5:13 pm
|
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54974373 A Spanish businessman who acted as a go-between to secure protective garments for NHS staff in the coronavirus pandemic was paid $28m (£21m) in UK taxpayer cash. The consultant had been in line for a further $20m of UK public funds, documents filed in a US court reveal. The legal papers also reveal the American supplier of the PPE called the deals "lucrative". The Department of Health said proper checks are done for all contracts. A legal dispute playing out in the courts in Miami has helped shine a light on the amount of money some companies have made supplying the NHS with equipment to protect staff from Covid infection. Safety chiefs pressed to make incorrect PPE report Safety concerns halt use of 50 million NHS masks Earlier this year, as the coronavirus pandemic was spreading rapidly around the world, Florida-based jewellery designer Michael Saiger set up a business to supply PPE to governments. He used his experience of working with factories in China to land what are described as "a number of lucrative contracts" supplying protective gloves and gowns to the NHS. Mr Saiger signed up a Spanish businessman, Gabriel Gonzalez Andersson, to help with "procurement, logistics, due diligence, product sourcing and quality control" of the PPE equipment. In effect, Mr Andersson was expected to find a manufacturer for deals that had already been done. Further $20m pledged Mr Andersson was paid more than $28m (£21m) for his work on two government contracts to supply the NHS. He was described in court documents as having done "very well under this arrangement". Etc. |
| Message Thread:
|