City trader accused of gambling away £1.5bn in biggest fraud in British corporate history goes on trial

 

A City trader accused of the biggest banking fraud in British corporate history appeared in court for the start of his trial.
Kweku Adoboli, 32, allegedly gambled away £1.5bn on the stock markets while working for Swiss Bank UBS.
He faces two counts of fraud and two counts of false accounting having been accused of losing the money as a result of a series of unauthorised trades.
Adoboli sat in court on Monday morning, dressed in dark suit, white shirt, and red tie, as a jury panel was selected to try him over the coming eight weeks.
Supported by friends and former-colleagues, the trader and son of a former Ghanaian official to the United Nations, looked relaxed as proceeding began.
More than 40 potential jurors have been selected which will be whittled down to a panel of 16 from which 12 will be sworn.
Addressing the court before jury selection began Mr Justice Keith said: ‘The case which is about to take place in this court is a fraud case.
‘The defendant, who is the man sitting in the dock behind the glass panels, worked as a trader for UBS and he is said to have lost over £2bn in the trades he made.
‘I mention that as the ballot to decide which of you will be serving on the jury for this case is about to take place and if you’ve worked for UBS at any time, or had direct dealings with UBS at any time, or if you’ve had a personal shareholding portfolio which includes shares in UBS at any time, or if any close relatives or friends have worked for, or had dealings with, or had shares in UBS it may not be appropriate for you to be on the jury in this case.’
He added that people would be exempted from the jury if they knew any of seven key witnesses identified by the prosecution and defence teams or Adoboli himself.
Potential jurors were also asked to state if they were, or had recently been, a police officer, CPS employee, or a trader in equities or financial instruments, a supervisor of such people or a close friend or relative.
The case is expected to last up to eight weeks after it is opened on Friday by prosecutor Sasha Wass QC.
Adoboli, a senior trader at UBS, is said to have ‘dishonestly abused’ his position by ignoring managers’ advice as to how much he was allowed to trade.
The first alleged offence is said to have taken place between October 2008 and June 2011, and the second between May 31 and September 17 last year.
Prosecutors say Adoboli falsified records and created fictitious onward transactions in a bid to cover up the US$2.3bn risk he exposed the firm to.
He was arrested at his desk during a swoop by City of London Police in the early hours of September 15 last year.
Adoboli, of Whitechapel, east London, denies two counts of fraud by abuse of position and two charges of false accounting.