Cox partially paid to deliver parallel COI report
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has disclosed that Sir Geoffrey Cox of the UK-based Withers law firm has received some payments for his long outstanding report.
Sir Geoffrey represented Cabinet members, under the Andrew Fahie-led administration, during the Commission of Inquiry (COI) hearings. But an expected report on the inquiry (a parallel COI report) was delayed by the government because of its apparent prohibitive cost.
Premier Wheatley previously indicated that legal fees paid to the law firm were initially pegged at $2,437,751.50 but the law firm was later paid a further sum of $4,689,531.52 in legal fees for the three-month extended period of the COI.
However, the parallel COI report has never been produced despite the government’s efforts. The Withers report was expected to show findings that differed significantly from the Sir Gary Hickenbottom report used by the UK government to enforce governance reforms in the territory.
The Premier noted last year that procuring the Cox report may cost the territory upwards of $1 million and suggested at the time that it was not on his government’s current list of priorities.
While speaking at a press conference recently, Dr Wheatley said the government should have had the controversial report already.
Premier Wheatley promised to confer with Attorney General Dawn Smith about who the point person for the Cox Report is to see when the final report is due, but could not give any indication about how much was paid thus far for the report.
“Actually, we should have had it. We should have had it already,” Premier Wheatley said. “I think he’s been paid. There’s perhaps some type of schedule for payment but of course, he won’t get final payment until we receive the report.”
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These Gov’t folks need to be locked up for squandering the public purse.
There are three sides to every story…yours…mines…and the truth. We heard the Governor & UK side with their well organized preauthored and non transparent COI process and report. Now it is time for the Cox report to be made public so we can hear the other side. Then let we the BVI people and the courts finally determine the truth. The report is urgently needed. It is money well spent. It allows for democracy and to balance the scale of justice. All of you will be surprised the total cost in millions of unaccounted for pounds to the UK tax payers for this well organized preauthored and non transparent COI process and report.
So, having spent $7 million to their lawyers to shield as much from the Commission of Inquiry as possible, they have now paid *more* money for their own special private report, which they will then review first and only afterwards decide which bits should be revealed to the public? How in any way is any part of that in the public interest?
The money spent on Cox and his report was well spent and soon the people will see the benefits. The bigger question is what the total is the UK paid on their report through their questionable COI. It is rumored it is well over $12 million US dollars. They need to account for this money especially seeing none of the services were tendered but rather persons were handpicked to do a specific job and paid handsomely. The people of the BVI have been shafted.
The UK taxpayer paid for the UK COI enquiry
@ UK Paid
They paid and got a report and recommendations. Don’t forget that part.
BVI paid…….. and that’s that.
Wait!?! Let me get this straight?
We had to pay out of the taxpayer’s pocket for the government to defend itself regarding malfeasance in office?
“”Premier Wheatley promised to confer with Attorney General Dawn Smith about who the point person for the Cox Report is to see when the final report is due….””. He does’nt know this already? This is pathetic….
So they won’t spend the money to get the report which we already started paying for anyway and is the JUST AND RIGHT THING TO DO but they are travelling all over wasting money? What is wrong with getting this report? Fair is fair! The COI has been a one-sided dog and pony show from the beginning. The recommendations were not in line with reality and this is why we are in this predicament at this point.
instead of just answering questions and using your own AG and legal staff you paid a UK lawyer $7,127,283.12 to protect yourself from answerig questions that you were legally required to answer WTF
What should have happened is that it was useless and a waste to hire Cox. The worst that could have and perhaps should have happened was for some of them to be locked up in our prison. At least Balsom Vhut prison belongs to us. But instead, we have given away our country’s money while the same politicians are free and are practically living in Space, always traveling somewhere, (Guyana, Morocco, US, UK, and God knows where else). Only in the BVi. God must love these tiny Islets.
WTFF?
Tax avoidance allegations
In September 2014, it was reported that Cox was one of a number of individuals investing in the Phoenix Film Partners LLC scheme run by Ingenious PLC which HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) had alleged to be a tax avoidance scheme. Ingenious has contested the allegation and claimed the scheme had been submitted to HMRC for pre-approval and that HMRC had not raised any objections. Cox has said that if the scheme was a tax avoidance scheme, it would have contradicted his instructions to his financial advisers, that he did not wish to be involved in aggressive tax avoidance. Following a string of court victories against the schemes, HMRC has since sought to settle disputes with those involved in the tax avoidance, with an agreed re-payment package. In January 2016 Ingenious PLC was reported to still be disputing the claims.
Again I’ll always this country is being let by children.Now look at it Slowman/Lorna in/Castro Gods knows where/Vincent unannounced God help us U.K we do beg who going to renew their evil whether Venezuela/Africa/Jamaica/ Senegal pls.stop doing it at out expense.Four Govt.ministers MIA.
Fishers/Farmers millions/planes millions gone.Cox millions gone.Party money gone now people of this country tell me in honest if we don’t need better.A boi leading without any leadership skill nor any respect for us whatsoever may God see for us.
I suspect it’s more accurate to say that the final report won’t be released until the final payment has been made. Withers are not fools.
More to the point if the Government wanted to challenge the CoI report they needed to do it in Court. Waving a “counter report” around that tax payers have paid for won’t achieve anything except contribute to narrative that our wise and honest leaders have behaved properly at all times.
I’m not sure how credible that counter narrative is, when compared to what we all saw on the CoI youtube hearings.
Money well spent the coi report was a wicked plot
This report like many others before it will never see the light of day.
It is clear that all of the was a preplanned political and economic adventure and wicked plan.
1) to create chaos in the political system.
2) to manufacture economic mechanism to steal millions from the country.
3) to reduce the island to economic, financial poverty and political levels it could not recover from.
Last, to implant their IK servants in ever y economic, financial and political office. Thus, completing the take over o UK appointees here and there, agents and meticulously planned, but so far not complete strategic maneuvers. .
each of these fools now has $7m cash bonfires on their resume.
at least ndp was trying to get airlift
these fks just blew $7million of we money to cover for them, the $100’s of millions squandered annually and the post irma scams.
revolution coming
both dishes on offer are toxic.
new chefs needed.
I am just playing Devil’s Advocate But what having this Report from Cox would mean to Us? Imagine spending millions of Dollars and we had Qualified Attorneys in the BVI and Caribbean Region But we had to go all the way to UK for Cox to prove what? The COI Sessions were made public for everyone to see and Hear. What was the difference in the questions asked and answered? We all heard the level of incompetence and wrong doing being admitted by some who took the stand. Are you now saying that they were coerced into the way they answered? No Children took the stand. They were all Men and Women. Some told blatant lies and some fumbled to find Lies to save themselves. It was a process that truly caught the BVI by surprise But Cox had every chance to rebutt which he did, So what can his Report say different? The Politicians past and present “F’d up as simple as that and now the present set have to clean up. This COI was overdue Decades ago and if business should go on as usual there WILL BE another one. Who in their right mind would even think on giving a Criminal Belonger’s Status? Was it right to give persons who never lived in the BVI, only visit periodically Belonger’s status? Sad to say But some people of the BVI are so comfortable with Corruption and wrong doing that they can’t see nor do any better. That is why right now WE are stagnant!!!!
these legal expenses for Withers, Cox, etc. were completely unnecessary. If the members of Cabinet during the CoI were concerned about their guilt then those members should pay their legal expenses NOT the BVI Treasury.
The 7 million on an airline with BVIs own identity, to create jobs and generate revenue was a good investment. The person who muck it up is now the general manager of BVI electricity. Need I say more?
7 million on a lawyer who seems to have ran away, still need another million to send a report and at the end of the day still resulted in 45+ recommendations having to be worked on, which results in even more expenses to the territory, to the tune of millions, with threat of suspension of constitution over its head, with no useful jibs created or revenue generated,was that a good investment? NO!
The 1.2 million being paid each month for water when water is only provided 25% of the time, so 14.4 million a year (twice the cost of the airline project), no meaningful revenues generated, is that a good investment? NO.
Yet, people harp on about 7million on an airline investment that aimed to create jobs and generate revenues. Innovation and forward thinking. Dr D Orlando Smith, I honor him as a great Premier.
Interesting that people see the 7mil airline investment as a bad thing in comparison to the ongoing moronic spending of the present government of 5 years.
Can’t fake ignorance.
Wow, over $7m split between Cox KC and Withers. Would be good to confirm the breakdown.
Withers must never have had it so good in their small BVI office while Cox KC sure leapt on that gravy train.
Of what value will the Cox Report be at this stage but a purely academic exercise, having regards to the resources already expended on the COI recommendations.
What views, opinions, expressions and sentiments in the Cox Report are likely to sway the UK Government now?
Even for the notorious robbers that lawyers are, that must be some kind of world record for lousy value for money.
Every time you think they have reached the bottom, they manage to sink lower.
Stupid…the officials will have sum of those fees in their accounts..setup
going off on the UK – the governor/ and the commissioner by blogging 99% on his yello site with his racially motivated rhetoric using all kinds of fancy names / here he is doing the same thing on this site / the same site that he has been bad mouthing , yet he is using as a tool to spread his
propaganda ( this psycho got to be on something and it ain’t the weed , that he keeps hollering out with to free the weed , how can he get respect when he jump into running for the 3rd district/ the people done know how he stabbed the ( Zhar ) to become a wannabe speaker which proved to be a disaster just like csc was to
the same coach / the coach associated himself with some sweet talkers which led to his demise because of those same 2 bad advisors , the other people around him were inexperienced and he player with their heads by giving a try at being ( deputy ) premier and while their heads were on cloud 9 / he was was doing his rodeo gig behind the scenes , and it worked for a while / going down on his knees had really
looked holy / we had even started to call him ( saint andrew )
Geoffrey Cox is a UK Politician and former Minister – of a failed useless government – This is his second third job on the side.
Waste of taxpayers money.