Son of a former Ghanaian official to the United Nations accused of Banking Fraud

Kweku Adoboli

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.

 

Culled from Daily Mail