Spending watchdog launches PPE probe after Spanish middleman was paid £21m

The UK’s spending watchdog has launched an investigation after a Spanish businessman was paid £22m in taxpayer’s money for his role in procuring PPE for frontline NHS staff.

An “urgent investigation” into the contract has been opened by the National Audit Office (NAO) after Business Secretary Alok Sharma had insisted that the proper “checks were done”, the Daily Mail reports.

Gabriel Gonzalez Andersson was hired by Florida-based jewellery designer Michael Saiger, who in the early days of the pandemic began supplying protective gloves and gowns to the NHS.

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Andersson worked on “procurement, logistics, due diligence, product sourcing and quality control” for Saiger’s company, working as a “go-between” on deals for Saiger to provide PPE for the government, the BBC reports.

“Andersson was paid more than $28m (£21m) for his work on two government contracts”, and would have been in line for a further $20m (£15m) in consulting fees after Saiger signed “three more agreements to supply the NHS with millions of gloves and surgical gowns” in June, the broadcaster adds.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published contracts with Saiger’s company totalling more than £200m, however, details of the middleman’s payments only became public due to an ongoing US legal dispute between Saiger and Andersson.

The NAO investigation comes just a day after it was revealed that ministers had set up a secret VIP channel for government contracts during the pandemic, through which billions of pounds of money was paid out.

Suppliers with links to politicians were ten times more likely to be awarded roles through the fast-track scheme than those who applied through the DHSC, the watchdog said.