Peer suspended from House of Lords was allegedly paid $1m in ‘corrupt’ deal

Lord Evans of Watford and other directors of investment firm deny claims made in lawsuits they say are ‘meritless’

A peer suspended by the House of Lords for breaking lobbying rules is now facing claims that he received at least $1m (£760,000) from an allegedly corrupt deal.

Lord Evans of Watford, a longtime Labour peer, was found last week by the House of Lords watchdog to have broken its rules four times after undercover reporting by the Guardian, and will be suspended for five months.

The peer was caught in a cash-for-access venture offering to introduce undercover reporters to fellow parliamentarians.

Now it can be revealed that he is separately facing legal action over payments that he and others received as directors of a UK investment firm that managed assets based in Kazakhstan.