Swords drawn
Profits of doom , Issue 1633 THE aftermath of the great Covid procurement free-for-all continues to prove a circus of profiteering, shady dealing and tax dodging.

Latest to receive scrutiny from lawyers and insolvency practitioners is Excalibur Healthcare Services Ltd, owned in 2020 – when it won its £135m contract to supply ventilators and £25m for personal protective equipment (PPE) – by former Labour donor and entrepreneur Sir Chris Evans.

In March 2022, after recording an eight-figure profit in the business, Evans sold Excalibur – or rather his Isle of Man holding company did – to a couple of unknown business people under the directorship of Evans' long-time accountant Shafia Zahoor (Eye 1574). At the time, a spokesman reassured the Eye that the beancounter "felt it was time to have a clear role of her own" and the company would pursue international markets.

Funnily enough that didn't work out; in July last year Excalibur, now renamed International Medical Supplies, went into liquidation (Eye 1605).

Waste measurement
Details of the company's collapse perhaps explain why Evans was keen to get out. It was already known the masks Excalibur had supplied were placed in the "do not supply" pile by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The liquidators' report now reveals a claim for, ahem, £22.1m from the DHSC, most probably relating to the PPE, which the taxpayer is unlikely to recover from the now potless business.

Among a further £3.3m in unpaid bills is £28,000 to one of the men brought in to own the company after Evans, and a £2.6m corporation-tax debt from the Covid year of 2020/21.

At their disposal
As for why the company can't pay its dues, details are scant but comments from the liquidators concerning an investigation by forensic accountants give a flavour. They had looked at "the disposal of motor vehicles, laboratory equipment, investments in wine and whiskey bonds, shares in various companies, furniture and equipment... [and] the director's loan account".

The liquidators add: "There has been a keen interest from the DHSC and [HM Revenue & Customs] to follow up on the investigation, given that they are the largest creditors." The accountants have submitted a report to the business department – rarely a good sign.

Ventilator shaft
Completing the Covid procurement fiasco bingo card, Excalibur itself has also been shafted. It is owed £10.6m by a company called Globus Industries Inc, which Excalibur paid up front for ventilators that didn't materialise.

A court confirmed that Globus "failed to fulfil its obligations", though this perhaps shouldn't have come as a surprise. Just four years previously, Globus's Dubai-based owner Ronnie Decker had been an HMRC target over involvement in a VAT fraud scheme.

"We traced the movements of Decker's funds and assets across three continents to build up a picture of the true scale of his profiteering, and uncovered around £3m in illegal assets," said a Crown recovery unit investigator in 2016.

Unfortunately, four years later health department officials showed no interest in where the PPE and ventilators were supposedly coming from. Could be another one for the incoming Covid corruption commissioner to have a look at.