It was a deal cut early in the Covid-19 pandemic when procurement standards had loosened. The plan was that a Dutch oil trader would supply a million face masks to a Dublin-based clothing firm for €500,000. Half the money was paid on deposit but the order never arrived and the case wound up before the High Court. In a bid to recoup its down payment, in June 2020, the Irish company Uniformal Ltd secured a freezing order against Taurus Gemini Real Estate BV, known as the Gemini Group, based in Bergen in the Netherlands. It was the first step in…