Shielding us, having disposed of a large sum of cash (8)
I believe the answer is:
guarding
'shielding' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for guarding that I've seen before include "Watching over or protecting" , "Protecting from danger" , "Keeping watch over" , "Watching over to protect or control" , "Keep watch and protecting" .)