Sir Geoffrey Cox earned up to £110,000 defending the controversial former premier of the Cayman Islands in a high profile corruption trial.
Following revelations that the Tory MP used Covid rules in order to vote from the British Virgin Islands, the controversy over second-jobs has centered on the Tory MP.
It has now emerged Sir Geoffrey, 61, was paid £355 an hour for eight weeks’ work for the Cayman Islands law firm that represented then opposition leader McKeeva Bush.
In the periods he was paid by Travers, Thorp, Alberga, he made one speech of just 46 words in the Commons, bolstering critics’ claims that he is an absentee MP.
In total Sir Geoffrey (pictured) earned £820,000 between December 2012 and October 2014 for 1,552 hours of work as a barrister – equivalent to almost ten months of work
Sir Geoffrey successfully defended Bush during the 2014 trial. He was accused of using his government credit card in order to withdraw $50,000 at casinos in the US, Bahamas and other countries.
Bush, who was facing 11 charges of misconduct in official affairs and breach of trust had been removed as president. But he was acquitted after Sir Geoffrey argued he was the subject of ‘a cynical plot of breathtaking proportions’ at the hands of a British-appointed official pursuing a ‘personal vendetta’.
The MPs’ register of interests showed Sir Geoffrey earned £110,000 working for the firm between July and August 2013, and July and October 2014. It is not known whether all 310 hours were devoted to Bush’s case, but the payments all fall within the period between Bush being charged in March 2013 and his acquittal in October 2014.
In total Sir Geoffrey earned £820,000 between December 2012 and October 2014 for 1,552 hours of work as a barrister – equivalent to almost ten months of work.
It has now emerged Sir Geoffrey, 61, was paid £355 an hour for eight weeks’ work for the Cayman Islands law firm that represented then opposition leader McKeeva Bush (pictured)
In 2018, he was harshly criticized for his defense of tax havens, but he didn’t declare that he earned thousands from law firms in Cayman Islands.
Bush is facing a variety of charges including corruption, sexual assault and assault. Last December he was handed a suspended sentence for a ‘shameful’ drunken assault on a woman, captured on CCTV. This led to protests against his position as Speaker of the Caymanian Parliament.
He was accused of groping an employee in a Florida casino and was later charged with battery.
Later, the charges were dropped.
In a statement yesterday Sir Geoffrey said he regularly works 70-hour weeks and always ensures his constituents’ casework is given primary importance and fully carried out.